KASHMIR GLORY DESK
Jammu: A joint delegation of prominent citizens of Katra led by Hotel & Restaurant Association, Katra (HRAK) and comprising its President Rakesh Wazir, Chairman Shyam Lal Kesar, Sr.Vice President HRAK and President Chamber of Commerce Katra Virender Kesar, SMVD Press Club Katra President Arun Sharma, its Sr. Vice President Sohan Lal, Councellor Ravi Nag and others call on Divisioner Commissioner, Jammu Ramesh Kumar.
The delegation apprised Div Com Jammu that a peculiar type of free for all situations has arisen at ban toll plaza wherein keeping aside all the previous orders, letters, guidelines issued from time to time by Deputy Commissioners, Project Directors and other Authorities wherein clearly areas falling within 20 km distance for issuing of local passes which is there in records and on the basis of those, passes were being issued, have been put to stop by Ban Toll Plaza contractor by a single order of Regional officer NHAI wherein he issued separate list of areas falling with 20 kms and kept intentionally certain areas out of that 20 km in contrary to the list issued by Deputy Commissioners/Project Directors to favour the contractor at Ban Toll plaza.
Wazir while speaking on occassion said that big question which arises over here is this that when NHAI initially asked Deputy Commissioners of concerned areas to give the names of areas falling within 20 km and on the basis of that the passes were issued to the local people and this practice is going on from last more than 8 years, how that list can be kept in absence when neither the location of those areas nor the Toll Plaza has changed.
Kesar said that in whole India the department of Revenue remains the only Authority to describe the areas and that is why Deputy Commissioners were asked from time to time for doing that job by NHAI but all of a sudden the Regional Officer on its own gave a separate list of areas falling within 20 km in contrary to the list issued by Deputy Commissioners which is quite surprising and is against law and further said that if each department will keep on superseding the prescribed authorities and particularly the Deputy Commissioners how the system will work.
Virender Kesar, Arun Sharma,Ravi Nag and others also raised other day to day irregularities at Ban Toll plaza and said that if all these irregularities are not stopped immediately it will lead to major law and order problems over there.
Ramesh Kumar listened to the delegation patiently and took the matter seriously and said that all issues and particularly the issue of passes would be resolved shortly.
The meeting among others was attended by Ramneek Nawada, Gardhari Lal, Ravi Verma, Vipan Sharma, Honey Sadhotra.
