Srinagar: A day after the militant attack on workers of the Z-Morh tunnel on their camping site in Ganderbal district, the security agencies and the Jammu and Kashmir government have decided to beef up the security arrangements around the under-construction mega-infrastructure projects, employing hundreds of non-local-labourers, in the Union Territory.
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said that though the attacks on workers of the construction projects have been insignificant but the Ganderbal attack has set an alarm for "more alertness"
"We have not seen such attacks on construction projects (in Jammu and Kashmir. If I remember, an attack happened on IRCON railway tunnel workers decades ago," Omar said.
In June 2004, two engineers- Sudhir Kumar and his brother Sanjay Kumar-of Indian Railways construction wing- IRCON- were abducted in south Kashmir by militants for ransom but thier bodies were later found in an apple orchard in the Shopian district. They were working on the Udhampur-Baramulla railway link in south Kashmir.
"I have spoken to the Director General of Police (DGP) and asked him to review the security of mega projects sites so that they should not take security lightly and show more alertness. I told him that security forces must fill the gaps and also the companies must show alertness in their security," he said.
At present, as per the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI), the Centre is executing 51 mega projects in Jammu and Kashmir. The Ministry of Roads, Highways and Transport is executing 13 national highway projects in the UT. These projects are being contracted through National Highways & Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd (NHIDCL). The big construction companies executing the mega-projects-Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Rail Link (USBRL), Zojilla, Z-Morh tunnels, Jammu-Srinagar national highway, and other strategic highways- have hired hundreds of non-local labourers and local staff for their construction.
Sources said that following the Ganderbal attack on workers, the security agencies have gone into a huddle to assess and enhance the security arrangements of the construction sites and the camping sites of the workers.
"The Jammu and Kashmir Police, paramilitary and Army have been directed to enhance vigil and patrolling near the construction sites and brick kilns where hundreds of non-local workers are earning their livelihood," an official source said.