J&K government approves Katra master plan 2031        

Jammu, Mar 28: The Jammu and Kashmir government has approved the Master plan 2031 for the Katra town of the Reasi district.

"The State Administrative Council (SAC), which met here today under the Chairmanship of Governor N N Vohra, approved the Master Plan-2031 of Katra Town", an official spokesman said.

He said that the revised Master Plan of Katra would be covering a Local Area of 79. 56 sq km in comparison to the present 11.06 sq km.

Katra Town, situated on foothills of Trikuta Mountains, is the base camp for the pilgrimage to the renowned Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine.

Huge commercial expansion of this town and its railway connectivity in the recent past had necessitated a mid-term revision of the existing Master Plan of Katra, which would have otherwise continued till 2021, he said.

The State Administrative Council (SAC), also approved the implementation of Unnat Jyoti by affordable LEDs for All (UJALA) Programme in the State through Energy Efficiency Services Ltd (EESL), a PSU under the Ministry of Power, Government of India.

The programme, earlier called Domestic Efficient Lighting Programme (DELP), shall help in promoting energy efficiency culture across the state.

The focus of this new initiative is to make the common citizen aware of the benefits of energy efficiency, the spokesman said.

Under UJALA, EESL will provide up to five LED lamps of 9W each to every registered domestic consumer in the State at a highly subsidized rate of Rs 20 per LED lamp which is sold in the market for Rs 250 to Rs 300.

A pack of five lamps will be sold for only Rs 100 to every registered domestic consumer. The balance amount of about Rs 77 per lamp will be borne by the State Government as subsidy, the spokesman said.

PTI