Srinagar, Oct 17: Jammu and Kashmir is the only place in the country where compensation has to be paid to build a road under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojna (PMGSY), Lieutenant Governor (LG) Manoj Sinha said on Tuesday.
Compensation for building road under the PMGSY is paid only in Jammu and Kashmir. “It does not happen in any other state of the country. The compensation provided by the J-K administration is more than the actual cost of the road project, when there are no provisions in the scheme,” Sinha said.
The LG was addressing an event on ‘Disaster Risk Reduction’ organised by the J&K Disaster Management Authority at the University of Kashmir.
“The money spent on compensation is more than the money spent on the construction of roads,” Sinha added.
Sinha said elsewhere in the country, people give their land for construction of roads.
“Where I come from, or people from other states will support me here on this, when a road needs to be built in other parts of the country, the people there give their land so that a road is constructed in their area,” he said.
Sinha said while people should be aware about their rights, they ought to know their duties as well.
“Along with their rights, I think the people have to be aware about their duties as citizens as well, and then only can we have a real advantage. My appeal would be to think over this, and I am saying this here because we have been able to construct less roads due to this,” he added.
In the last three years, the speed of constructing roads has increased over three times in Jammu and Kashmir, he said.
“And we have increased over ten times the speed of completing projects,” he added.
He said making J&K disaster resilient is the top priority of the administration and it is taking significant steps to strengthen disaster risk reduction system in the union territory (UT).
Under the guidance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the J&K administration is committed to reduce impacts of natural disasters on lives and livelihoods, he said.
Due to climate change and increasingly extreme weather, the natural disasters are striking at places that have not seen such destructions before. We have to shift our approach from “reactive response” to “proactive prevention” and preparedness to mitigate the impact, he said.
Sinha called for accelerated action to tackle concerns highlighted in this year’s International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction theme, ‘Fighting inequality for a resilient future’.
“Our priority is to strengthen the system of early warning, early action, resilient infrastructure and collaborative action by all stakeholders to ensure no precious life is lost. Our focus should be on protecting marginalised communities for resilient development and quick recovery,” he said.
He directed the J&K Disaster Management Authority to prepare a blueprint on a robust mechanism to provide access to information, essential services and early warning in the event of a disaster.
The LG also suggested establishing a disaster management committee in every panchayat under disaster-prone areas.
