Jammu, July 11: Apni Party on Tuesday staged a protest demonstration against Jammu Municipal Corporation (JMC) here at Transport Nagar near Narwal demanding the development of Transport Nagar under Smart City Project.
The protest was led by Apni Party Provincial President, Jammu, and Former Minister, S. Manjit Singh, and was organized by Women Wing Provincial President, Jammu, Pavneet Kour, and Tirath Singh, a transporter leader.
Shouting slogans against the JMC, the Apni Party leaders staged a sit-in at yard number 6 in Transport Nagar and highlighted the concerns and difficulties faced by the transporters, business men, and truckers in Narwal.
Speaking on the occasion, S. Manjit Singh extended full support to the transporters, businessmen community, and truckers in Transport Nagar for their “genuine concern about the underdevelopment and deliberate ignorance of the prime economic hub of Jammu”.
“The JMC should have developed Transport Nagar under the Smart City Project. The roads, lanes, shops, workshops, and parking slots have no cleanliness, no black topping of the road, no drainage system, drinking water facility or rest house for the transporters,” he said.
He said JMC has completely collapsed and the flagship Smart City Project has grounded before its take-up in Jammu City. “There is no footpath, no medical center, no patrolling of the police despite repeated theft incidents in Transport Nagar and dozens of complaints from the shopkeepers, and vehicle owners,” he said.
He said that Transport Nagar should not be ignored but the government should consider it under the Smart City Project and develop it by providing all the basic amenities including black-topped and well-maintained roads, and footpaths.
“These truckers are the major link as a lifeline between Jammu, Kashmir, Ladakh and rest of the county yet they are forced to face problems with no arrangement of drinking water, medical care, and subsidized ration en route to the Jammu Srinagar, and Jammu Pathankot Highway,” he said, adding that the transport industry was a lucrative business which is now being abandoned by the transporters due to financial losses, and no support from the government.
“The transporters have come under debits, but the government has not planned any plan to address their issues. We believe that the J&K government should constitute a team of senior officers so that they can speak to the transporters, and accordingly, make plans of development by considering it under Jammu Smart City Project, and issues on the highway confronted by the transporters’ en route to their respective destinations across Jammu, Kashmir, and Ladakh,” he added.
