Urging the people to exhibit a participatory approach in strengthening the initiatives being undertaken by the Government for ensuring the pristine glory of Srinagar city is restored, the Deputy Chief Minister Dr. Nirmal Singh today said that the comprehensive plan is underway to make Srinagar one of the best cities of the country replete with all the basic and modern facilities of housing and urban living.

The Deputy Chief Minister was speaking at a function organized by Srinagar Municipal Corporation in connection with the celebration of World Environment Day at Rajbagh here today.

          The function also marked the inauguration of door to door collection and source segregation of the waste of households by way of providing them with twin coloured dustbins and also rolling out of 50 new hopper vehicles to strengthen the transportation of segregated waste collected from households.

          MLA Ms Anjum Fazili, Commissioner SMC Dr. Shafqat Khan, Joint Commissioner SMC, Senior officers, prominent citizens and representatives of various NGOs were present on the occasion.  

          Dr. Singh said that the sanitation drive being undertaken by the Municipal Corporation is part of the initiative of the Swachh Bharat Mission being undertaken by the Prime Minister. He said we should all come forward and contribute our bit in making this programme a success which would in turn ensure overall cleanliness of our surroundings besides also contribute to the preservation of the fragile environment of the State.

          The Deputy Chief Minister said that the need of the hour is also to involve students and youth in carrying out the sanitation drives so that it becomes broad based. He said that awareness camps should be held in schools and colleges in order to carry the drive on a mission mode.

          While enumerating various initiatives being undertaken for the beautification and development of the Srinagar city, the deputy Chief Minister said that the instructions have already been passed to the executing agencies to complete the prestigious flyover project by doing double shifts so that the traffic regulation is ensured in the city. He said that dredging of Jhelum is also being undertaken besides several state-of-art parking facilities are constructed in the Srinagar city center.

          Dr. Singh said that the problem of drainage is also being addressed in a phase wise manner and necessary measures have already been undertaken for effective solid waste management and the plant would be commissioned very soon at Achan.

          Ms Anjum Fazili also spoke on the occasion and enumerated the various steps being undertaken by the Government in housing and urban sector. She said that several flagship programmes are underway which would ensure that the Srinagar comes up as one of the most developed cities of the Country.

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