Lt Guv Murmu visits ancient Buddhist site, emphasises on preserving heritage

Jammu and Kashmir Lt Governor Girish Chandra Murmu on Saturday conducted a whirlwind tour of Akhnoor-Jourian area here and visited ancient Buddhist site at Ambaran and historic Akhnoor Fort.

He emphasized on preservation and restoration of these heritage sites and stressed on developing Ambaran Site and Akhnoor Fort as major heritage tourism destinations as these sites have a great potential for attracting tourists, an official spokesman said.

Murmu directed the concerned officers to take necessary measures to safeguard these heritage sites and take up the works to make them aesthetically pleasing.

At Akhnoor Fort, the Lt Governor passed on spot directions to the officers for shifting the Public Health Engineering over head tank out of the heritage area of the fort.

In Jourian, Murmu reviewed the progress of work on 1640 mtr long Indri Pattan-Pargwal bridge to be constructed at an estimated cost of Rs 119.69 crore.

He directed the executing agency to expedite the pace of work for timely completion of the mega project, the spokesman said.

Later, the Lt Governor interacted with the Chairpersons of Block Development Councils and members of Municipal Committee Akhnoor who apprised him about the issues and demands pertaining to early completion of Sub-District Hospital (SDH) building, shifting of veterinary hospital from the congested town area to the outskirts, road connectivity for Horticulture Mandi at Daskal and establishment of Sewage Treatment Plant for the town.

Murmu assured them to review all genuine issues projected by them for their early redressal, the spokesman said.