Kathua, June 5
To redress public grievances of residents of the Kandi belt of Kathua, the District Development Commissioner (DDC), Kathua, Mr Mehboob Iqbal, yesterday visited Karroh village near Lakhanpur.
A large number of deputations and individuals met the DDC and apprised him of problems being faced by the inhabitants of these areas. The problems put before the DDC included carpeting of the 2 km Lakhanpur-Karroh link road, drinking water facilities, construction of additional classrooms in Government Middle School, Karroh, issuance of BPL ration, renovation of the local pond and provision of additional teaching staff in the two primary schools of the village. The DDC was also told a pond was being renovated through community participation. A sum of Rs 10,000 had been contributed by the MLA, Basohli, from his constituency development fund for the same.
The District Development Commissioner ordered the Executive Engineer, PWD, Kathua to execute work on 2 km link road for which funds to the tune of Rs 3 lakh would be provided to the PWD authorities from the District Plan Fund. He also ordered the transfer of Rs 1 lakh provided by the MP for construction of the link road from the Block Development Agency, Kathua, to the PWD, Kathua. He announced Rs 33,000 for the village pond.
The DDC also directed the Executive Engineer, PHE, (Civil) to construct a reservoir and replace the main water supply line to provide uninterrupted supply of drinking water. He also directed the PHE authorities to provide drinking water by pressing into service additional water tankers during the peak summer season.
Regarding compensation to the drought-affected people, the DDC ordered the supply of free ration for one-and-half month to the affected families and directed the Tehsildar, Kathua, to prepare a list of beneficiaries within a fortnight.
Amongst others, the District Social Welfare Office, Kathua, accompanied the District Development Commissioner.
The DDC also presided over a public grievance camp at Rattanpur Surara village in Hiranagar tehsil. More than 200 persons of adjoining villages attended the camp and placed their demands before the District Development Commissioner.
The MLA, Hiranagar, Mr Prem Lal, besides other government functionaries, was present. The MLA apprised him of the problems being faced by the people of his constituency.
Mr Iqbal said that additional drinking water facilities would be provided to these villages within three months. Regarding construction of a link road from Kootah to Surara, the DDC said the district administration had already taken up the matter with the Ministry of Defence as this was mainly used for defence purposes.
