Srinagar: Divisional Commissioner Kashmir Anshul Garg on Monday reviewed the progress of Phase II and Phase II-A of the Srinagar Ring Road project in Ganderbal district and directed the concerned departments to expedite its execution.
The meeting was attended by Deputy Commissioner Ganderbal Jatin Kishore, the Project Director of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), Chief Engineers of the Roads and Buildings (R&B) and Public Health Engineering (PHE) departments, besides other senior officers.
Garg reviewed the status of land acquisition, compensation disbursement, transfer of acquired land, removal of trees along the project alignment, demolition of private and government structures, pending court cases, utility shifting and other issues affecting the project’s progress.
He directed the officers to compile detailed information on acquired land, land already handed over to the executing agency and pending court references by Friday. He also asked the departments to conduct a joint site inspection on Saturday to assess issues on the ground and facilitate their resolution.
The Divisional Commissioner instructed the departments to expedite the removal of trees falling within the project alignment in accordance with prescribed procedures, while ensuring transplantation wherever feasible and compensatory afforestation in other cases.
Regarding private structures on state land, he directed the National Highways Authority of India to resolve compensation issues in accordance with its norms. For government structures, he instructed that they be handed over to the executing agency on an Equal Value Infrastructure (EVI) basis.
He also directed the Chief Engineer, Public Health Engineering, to facilitate the connection of the new water supply pipeline with the existing network without disrupting essential services so that project work could continue smoothly.
Emphasising the importance of timely completion of the Srinagar Ring Road project, Garg called for close coordination among all stakeholder departments to remove bottlenecks and accelerate the pace of work.
