SRINAGAR: Chief Secretary, Atal Dulloo, today held a detailed session with the civil society members who had come under a banner of Group of Concerned Citizens (GCC) to have insights into the requirement of interventions to be made in different government sectors. The meeting was also attended by Secretary, R&B; Commissioner, SMC; SSP, Traffic; VC, LCMA; Chief Engineer, I&FC besides representatives from other Departments.
During this interaction, the Chief Secretary took keen interest in the concerns raised by the group of senior citizens. He assured them on part of the administration that all the genuine concerns would be looked into and resolved at an earliest. The concerned officers simultaneously gave their inferences about the issues related to their departments raised by this group. They also gave their assurance about resolving these issues on merit in a time-bound manner.
Earlier, the Chairman of this Group, Khurshid Ahmad Ganai, threw light on different aspects of city development that as per the group are significant to make Srinagar a better place to live. Besides removing the bottlenecks hampering smooth movement of traffic present in the shape of utility shifting, surface improvement, bridge expansion as per road width in old city areas they also pinpointed locations where mere administrative interventions can lead to better outcomes.
The Group also favoured inclusion of solid waste management and water bodies conservation under Smart City Mission with few suggestions to improve the Achhanl and fill site. Regarding flood protection works, the GCC acknowledged the role of government in enhancing the carrying capacity of flood spill channel by 10000 cusecs but they asked for taking more steps to safeguard the city from the flood situation as that of 2014.
The concerned group even requested the government to employ modern technology and techniques in collaboration with internationally reputed organisations to protect the famous water bodies in and around the city. They further vouched for bringing in tourism policy that is much in coherence with the globally acknowledged parameters of sustainability with ample preventive measures for conserving the eco-fragile environs of this region.
At the end, the GCC also sought cooperation of Chief Secretary in implementing land laws that ensure arresting conversion of fertile lands for non-agricultural purposes here in J&K. Other members, retired bureaucrats and academicians, who constituted this group and were part of today’s delegation includes Naseema Lankar, Lateef-uz-Zaman Deva, Kifayat Hussain Rizvi, Abdul Majeed Bhat, Mohammad Rafi, Abdul Rashid Khan and Iftikhar Hakeem.
