Union Minister of State for Road Transport and Highways and Civil Aviation, General VK Singh on Monday visited Doda as a part of ongoing Public Outreach Programme.

During his program, the minister reviewed progress and performance of National Highways & Infrastructure Development Corporation (NHIDCL),  Roads & Buildings (R&B) and General Reserve Engineer Force (GREF) and also took a detailed review of package-wise progress on alternate National Highway 244.

During his visit to various ongoing development projects, Gen. Singh instructed the executing agencies to stick to the timeline and ensure the completion of NH244 and other projects within the given time frame.

The minister also directed the district administration to send details of bottlenecks, if any, in all the projects be that of forest clearance or non acquisition of land so that the same can be taken up with concerned authorities for early redressal. During the meeting, the minister also administered Ekta and Vigilance pledge at the conference hall.

The minister also inspected ongoing work on the upcoming Khellani tunnel, for which he was informed that 36% of the work on both the tubes is complete and the tentative date of completion of the tunnel project is April 2023.

Gen. Singh directed the engineers to get the best expertise and use contemporary technology to give the public a state of the art infrastructure without harming the ecology of the area.

The minister also inaugurated a link road to Nai Dangri, constructed by the PWD, at an estimated cost of Rs. 1.91 crore. He also laid the foundation stone of water supply scheme Pranu under JJM built at an estimated cost Rs. 4.22 crores benefitting Shahpura and Malnai villages.

The minister also inspected various stalls highlighting the individual and community welfare schemes run by different departments, at Doda.

He distributed tractors among the beneficiaries of the agriculture department. He also distributed power tillers, sanction letters of water harvesting tanks and vermicomposts among the beneficiaries of the horticulture department.

Regarding the sanctioned Chatergalla tunnel which shall connect Doda to Bhaderwah with Kathua District, the minister was informed that this tunnel will give all weather road connectivity and will reduce the present distance by 28 Kms. The minister was also informed that all the road projects under NHIDCL, GREF, PWD and PMGSY are being monitored regularly so that they can be dedicated to the public in the shortest possible time.

Gen VK Singh also held an interactive session with elected public representatives and delegations of District Development Council and Block Development Council members, other Panchayati Raj Institutions, and Urban Local Bodies members and councilors. He assured the public representatives and delegations that their genuine issues and demands will be redressed in a time bound manner.