PDP urges PM to oversee reconstruction work

Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Thursday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to constitute an expert committee under PMO to oversee the massive task of rehabilitation and reconstruction in the aftermath of devastating floods that hit the State last month.
A delegation of PDP leaders led by the party General Secretary, Mohammad Dillawar Mir called on the Prime Minister urging him to initiate immediate tangible measures to set into motion a comprehensive process of rehabilitation and reconstruction of the flood-affected people in Jammu and Kashmir. The PDP delegation included senior party leaders Abdul Rehman Veeri, Naeem Akhtar, Dr Haseeb Drabu and Syed Altaf Bukhari.
Talking to Rising Kashmir, PDP spokesperson Nayeem Akhtar said: “All we can say after meeting him (Modi) is that he wants to do something to help Kashmir. We stressed on the need that the rehabilitation process should be fast-tracked and the prime minister must himself lead it.”
The PDP leaders told the Prime Minister that an expert committee comprising town planners, structural engineers, civil engineers, hydrologists, geologists, flood control experts, economists etc should be entrusted with the responsibility of formulating and implementing a comprehensive rehabilitation and reconstruction programme in a time-bound manner.
“The expert committee should work under the direct supervision of the Prime Minister to ensure effective implementation and delivery of the reconstruction plan in J&K as was done in the aftermath of the 2001 earthquake that caused massive destruction in Bhuj area of Gujarat,” the PDP delegation said.
They said the massive challenge of rehabilitation and reconstruction should be accomplished in a cohesive manner to rebuild safe, sustainable and planned infrastructure in J&K in the aftermath of the floods. The delegation also reiterated the demand for including Srinagar in Rs 7000 crore Smart Cities project announced in the Union Budget.
Pressing for speedy follow-up action by the Centre on J&K Government’s Rs 44000 crore relief and rehabilitation package for the flood-affected, the PDP delegation urged the Prime Minister that immediate focus should be on providing pre-fabricated shelters to the homeless and a special financial package for the trade, business, agriculture, horticulture and tourism sectors.
They said in view of the upcoming winter, it has become imperative to ensure livable all-weather shelters for the flood-affected as the tents provided by the Government won’t serve any purpose.
The financial package, they said, should include classifying all bank lendings in J&K, especially involving traders, small businesses and horticulturists, as priority sector lending and placing debt waiver and write-offs of the banks for the flood victims under CSR expenditure.
The Prime Minister, according to the PDP delegation assured them that an expert committee would be constituted to oversee the massive task of rehabilitation and reconstruction of the State.
He also assured tangible action on other points raised by the delegation including special financial package for the affected businesses and horticulture sector.