Pace up road works, complete them within deadlines: Mehbooba 

Kupwara: Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti on Monday directed pacing up of work on the road and its completion within the deadline period.

On the second day of her two day visit to the frontier Kupwara district, Mehbooba laid foundation of several road projects and inaugurated Panzgam-Manzgam Bridge and Sub District Hospital at Langate.

She also laid the foundation of model villages in Kunan-Poshpora, the villages where personnel of the 4 Rajputana Rifles of the Indian Army gangraped at least 23 women—with some estimates placing it at around 40– on the night of February 23, 1991. She also met a large number of people to know their “difficulties,” an official spokesman said.

Mehbooba Mufti laid the foundation of improvement and upgradation of 25 kilometre long Khumriyal Rang road which would be built at a cost of Rs. 30.38 crore. The construction of road is expected to benefit around two lakh people of 50 villages in the catchment area. The project is expected to be completed within three working seasons.

At Batergam, Mehbooba Mufti laid the foundation of 11 Kilometre long Gushi-Batergam-Halmatpora-Salkote road which would be constructed at a cost of Rs. 15 crore and would also be completed within three working seasons. The construction of the road is expected to benefit around 80 souls in the catchment areas.

The Chief Minister also laid the foundation of Hafrada-Asthanwali-Hatchmarg-Tumina-Marsari road. The 15 kilometre long road would be constructed at a cost of Rs. 19 crore. She also laid the foundation of Model villages at Kunan-Poshpora to be developed at a cost of Rs. 33.12 crore. The villages to be developed are Kunan, Poshpora, Hanjipora and Babagund and these would be having all the basic facilities for healthcare, education, drinking water, power, irrigation and other allied facilities.

At Panzgam, the Chief Minister inaugurated 160 metre long Panzgam-Manzgam bridge which has been constructed at a cost of Rs. 7.04 crore and it would connect the two historic villages with each other for which the people have been craving for so long.

Later, Mehbooba Mufti also inaugurated Sub District Hospital at Langate which has been constructed at a cost of Rs. Seven crore. The 30 bedded hospital is equipped with all modern techniques of patientcare including operation theatre, post operative care, labs, dental chair, diagnostic equipments etc. and is expected to benefit around 90 thousand people of the area.

The Chief Minister went round the hospital and also interacted with people. She directed construction of a ramp and carving out of a maternity unit with all the facilities.

Minister for Rural Development & Law, Abdul Haq Khan; Minister for Public Works, Naeem Akhtar; Minister of State for Health & Medical Education, Asiea Naqash; Member, Rajya Sabha, Fayaz Ahmad Mir; legislators, Er. Rasheed, Bashir Ahmad Dar, Raja Manzoor and Javid Mirchal; heads of several Departments, officers of District administration and people in large numbers were present on these occasions.

Earlier in the day, the Chief Minister, continuing with her public outreach, interacted with a lot of people and many deputations who briefed her with their problems and difficulties.

Mehbooba Mufti assured them that their genuine grievances would be fast paced for redressal by her Government.