The lifts in district administrative complex (mini-secretariat) Bandipora where all the major offices of the district including deputy commissioner Bandipora’s office are functioning, have been defunct since it was inaugurated in 2013.According to wire service-Kashmir News Observer (KNO), various delegations and visitors mostly handicapped and elderly complained that due to the defunct lifts at mini-secretariat building they have to face a lot of inconveniences.They said that since the administrative complex was inaugurated in 2013, the lifts have remained defunct in all the three administrative blocks of the mini-secretariat owing to official negligence. The administrative complex was inaugurated by the then chief minister Omar Abdullah.“The lifts have never been used as they have remained defunct since the administrative complex started functioning. The officials at the helm have completely ignored this thing over the years as they have failed to make the lifts functional even spending crores of funds on the construction of this administrative complex at district headquarter,” said Abdul Ahad a local resident.Locals and the visitors visiting the administrative complex for various official works said that the lifts are not only defunct but they have not been properly maintained as the doors of these lifts have been broken. “One can only imagine how the issues of poor people could be redressed when the officers at the helm cannot maintain and make these lifts functional even in their own offices,” they said.
The district administrative complex has three blocks with each block having 3-4 story building. All the major offices of district Bandipora function from these three blocks, including deputy commissioner’s office.The foundation stone for the mini-secretariat complex was laid in 2007 and the work was completed in 2013 at an estimated cost of Rs 22 crores. As per official sources, several lakhs of rupees were spent on the construction of lifts in all the three blocks.“We have to face a lot of inconveniences owing to defunct lifts in all the three blocks as we have to go upstairs having a physical disability. We have many times asked the concerned officers including deputy commissioners who were posted here in the past to make these lifts functional but to no avail,” Mehraj-ud-din Bhat, president handicapped association Bandipora, told KNO.He said that even office of the medical board has been kept on the third floor in one of the blocks of administrative complex and due to defunct lifts here they have to face a lot of difficulties. He said besides defunct lifts there is no other facility for differently abled people for their convenience like ramp so that they don’t have to face any difficulty in visiting the offices located at mini-secretariat. A senior official of the district acknowledged that the lifts have been defunct in the administrative complex from past several years. “There maintenance would be taken up as they have formulated their annual maintenance cost (AMC), after which they would be made functional. The lifts also had a low voltage issue which would also be taken care of,” he said. (KNO)