Eight years on Tral mini secretariat remains incomplete, locals suffer
Pulwama: Eight years after its sanction, the Mini Secretariat in Tral town of south Kashmir’s Pulwama district remains far from completion, with construction stalled for the past five years, locals alleged Monday.
The project, approved in 2017 with an estimated cost of around Rs 7 crore, was envisioned to bring administrative services closer to residents of Tral, eliminating the need to travel nearly 30 kilometers to the district headquarters in Pulwama. However, the lack of funding has severely hampered progress.
Locals said land under the horticulture department was allocated for the secretariat, but despite the passage of over seven years, only about 30 percent of the construction has been completed.
“No work has taken place for the last three years,” said Ghulam Mohamad, a local resident.
“People from remote areas of Tral are forced to travel long distances to Pulwama to get basic work done. A functional Mini Secretariat here would save both time and money,” he added.
Another resident, Muzamil Ahmad, echoed the sentiment, stressing the hardships faced due to the distance and lack of facilities in the area.
Despite repeated pleas to the authorities, locals say the issue continues to be neglected.
Residents have urged the administration to expedite the process and ensure early completion of the project so that they can finally access essential services locally.
An official from R&B said that only Rs 1 crore was allocated for the project before August 5, 2019, by the then local MLA Mushtaq Ahmad Shah.
“We’ve forwarded a revised Detailed Project Report (DPR) for the remaining work, and are hopeful it will be approved soon. Once the funds are sanctioned, we can restart the construction,” the official said.
