Union Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry seeks proposals from local administrations for infrastructure projects in Leh, Kargil

New Delhi: The Union Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry has sought a detailed proposal from the local administration to execute various development projects in Leh and Kargil regions. An official said the ministry is also contemplating to include these two regions under its ‘Smart City Mission’, a flagship programme of the Modi government. [caption id=“attachment_7317681” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File image of Union Minister for Housing and Urban Affairs Hardeep Singh Puri. PTI[/caption] The move comes almost a month after the Centre abrogated provisions of Article 370 that gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir and bifurcated the state into union territories — Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh, which will come into existence on 31 October. “We have asked the local administration to submit a detailed proposal to execute various projects for the development of Leh and Kargil. Once the proposal is submitted, we will examine it and release funds for the same,” the official told PTI. Asked whether Leh and Kargil will be included in the ‘Smart City Mission’, he said, “We are contemplating it.” Under the mission launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in June 2015, the ministry has selected 100 cities, where 5,151 projects worth Rs 2,05,018 crore are proposed to be executed in five years. Jammu is also among the 100 cities under the mission. Last week, the Central Public Works Department (CPWD), a prime construction agency of the central government, offered the Jammu and Kashmir administration assistance in building “economical” and “best quality” infrastructure in the two union territories. Prabhakar Singh, Director General of CPWD, has written to Jammu and Kashmir Chief Secretary BVR Subrahmanyam, saying it will increase its manpower in the regions for execution of developmental projects.