SrinagarBemina Development and Welfare Forum (BDWF) have welcomed the government’s announcement to open school and ration store in Rakh Arath colony Bemina.
The announcement was made by minister for education, Altaf Bukhari, during his visit to the colony on Sunday.
Pertinently, BDWF had raised the issue with chief minister Mehbooba Mufti during a public darbar in Budgam in October. The chief minister had directed the concerned departments to immediately make the facilities available in Rakh Arath for the convenience of students and local population.
“Ever since Rakh Arath housing colony was established in 2007, it has been a victim of political and official apathy. In absence of school and ration store, the area has suffered a great deal. We are thankful to the chief minister and education minister for redressing this long pending demand,” said Ghulam Mohammad Bhat, secretary of Bemina Development and Welfare Forum.
The residents also expressed hope that other demands raised by the delegation will.also be addressed in a time-bound manner.
“We request the education minister to take necessary measures for upgradation of high school, as directed by the chief minister,” Bhat said.
The residents of Bemina have also welcomed Chief Secretary’s direction to the Divisional Commissioner to identify feasible and suitable land for the IIM campus, acknowledging that the Narkara land is of marshy nature.
The governments plan to set up the IIM campus in Narkara, without weighing its pros and cons, had drawn flak from all quarters. The proposed site is part of the wetland managed by Rakhs and Farms of Agriculture department and environmentalists have criticized the plan as imprudent and reckless.
Bemina Development and Welfare Forum has been running a relentless campaign against governments foolhardy decision to set up the IIM campus in Narkara, which is basically a wetland and serves as a food absorption basin.
The government had planned to transfer 1600 kanals of land in the first phase to set up the campus in the wetland in brazen violation of the Environmental Protection Act. The land, which is a notified protected area under the provision of the J&K Wildlife Protection Act, was reportedly transferred from Revenue department to Wildlife department in 2013.
In October 2017, a delegation of BDWF presented a memorandum to the Chief Minister during public meeting in Budgam, which included the demand to reconsider the decision of setting up the IIM Kashmir campus in Narkara.
The delegation apprised the CM of myriad problems arising due to the governments ill-advised plan, which would adversely impact the eco-system and increase flood risk in Bemina and Narkara.
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