State starts process to construct 1,680 flats for Pandits in Valley

Sumit Hakhoo

Tribune News Service

Jammu, July 18

Days after Governor Satya Pal Malik justified the need for separate colonies to resettle displaced Pandits in Kashmir, the State Administrative Council (SAC) has initiated the process to start the construction of transit camps with 1,680 flats in different districts of the Valley.

The government has directed officials of the Relief and Rehabilitation Organisation and the J&K Projects Construction Corporation to present a power point presentation in the next few days before getting necessary funds and approval from the Planning, Development and Monitoring Department and clear the bottlenecks of the long-delayed project.

The transit accommodation will be exclusively for government employees in the Valley recruited under the 2008 Resettlement and Rehabilitation package announced by the then Congress-led UPA government. These include 3.5 lakh minority Hindus, besides thousands of Sikhs and Muslims families living in Jammu and other parts of India after their forced exodus by separatist insurgents since 1989-90.

Official sources said six detailed project reports prepared by the Chief Engineer of the Public Works Department (R&B), Kashmir, were being reviewed. These include construction of one BHK flats at Khawajabagh, Baramulla (336); Mughalpora, Kupwara (288); Padpawan, Shopian (192); Odina Sumbal, Bandipora (480); Wandhama, Ganderbal (192); and Marhama, Anantnag (192).

A communication in this regard has been sent to the Relief and Rehabilitation Commissioner (Migrants).

“These projects were in the pipeline for years but faced repeated delays despite approvals. The Governor’s administration has sought a detailed presentation so that the process of construction can be started soon,” said a senior official in the Disaster Management, Relief, Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Department.

Nearly 3,000 Pandits have been engaged under the PM’s employment package since 2010. Majority of them are living in squalid pre-fabricated sheds constructed in 2004-05.

One BHK houses

• Six detailed project reports prepared by the Chief Engineer of the Public Works Department (R&B), Kashmir, are being reviewed for the work
• These include construction of one BHK flats (transit camps) at Khawajabagh, Baramulla (336); Mughalpora, Kupwara (288); Padpawan, Shopian (192); Odina Sumbal, Bandipora (480); Wandhama, Ganderbal (192); and Marhama, Anantnag (192)