Need to beautify city for coming tourist season, Dy CM

Deputy Chief Minister and Minister for Power Development and Housing and Urban Development Nirmal Kumar Singh has stressed the need for beautifying Srinagar city by ensuring cent percent cleanliness and removing illegal encroachments.

Nirmal was reviewing the functioning of the Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC) here today. He asked officials to prepare a comprehensive list of all illegal encroachments and commercial buildings lacking the mandatory space for car parking. The list would help the government make a comprehensive policy to deter future encroachments by way of enhanced punishments and imposition of fine. At the meeting, it was informed that 19 commercial establishments had been sealed for not having the car parking facility.

The Deputy Chief Minister asked the officials to prepare for the coming season which is expected to bring an increased number of tourists to the capital city. The meeting was informed that the SMC collected around 400 MTs of solid waste everyday, which was dumped at the Achan. To prevent the foul smell and overflowing at Achan, the committee is working with a private company. “A special chemical is sprinkled on the garbage at Achan, which not only squeezes its volume but also prevents the foul smell. This will increase the life of Achan dumping site too,” the officials said.

The Deputy Chief Minister assured that all help would be provided under the Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) to make Srinagar and other cities clean and beautiful.

He also gave a green signal to the SMC for purchasing a segregator machine. The Deputy Chief Minister also asked the officials to expedite the waste to energy project at the Achan dumping site, which will further reduce the garbage burden.

As for the scarcity of staff at the SMC, Dr Singh asked the officials to outsource the sanitation work wherever it is possible. He also asked the corporation to make an awareness campaign for the segregation of waste at the source.

The meeting was informed that the committee was currently working on 38 drainage projects in the city and 80 per cent work on them had been completed. The committee had formulated a Rs 410-crore project, for which a proposal had been sent. It was being taken under the AMRUT scheme. The five-year project will make available around Rs 80-85 crore to the SMC every year.