Udhampur to get first-ever FM radio station

Jammu, Feb 17: Jammu and Kashmir's Udhampur city is all set to get its first ever FM radio station, the Centre said today while granting Rs 9.24 crore for the project.

Announcing this here, Union Minister of State for PMO Jitendra Singh said a formal communication was issued to this effect by the Union Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, which also wrote a letter to Chief Executive Officer, Prasar Bharati, New Delhi to carry forward the plan.

The announcement comes close on the heels of the approval of Rs 170.50 crore by the Central government for the cleaning of river Devika under National River Conservation Plan (NRCP) in Udhampur district.

Singh said the proposed radio station at Udhampur will have a 10 kW FM transmitter, a studio and 100 meter tower.

While Rs 9.24 crore has been approved as the cost of civil works and equipment, he said, this will not include the cost of land which has already been identified in the city premises of Udhampur.

"It is a matter of pride and great achievement for the state of Jammu and Kashmir. Under this special plan rolled out by the Union Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, only three radio stations have been approved across the country for construction through the current order, and Udhampur is one of them. The other two stations are to be set up at Nellore in Andhra Pradesh and Sultanpur in Uttar Pradesh.

"A team from the Union Ministry will shortly visit Udhampur to initiate the process of land acquisition and thereafter the construction task will begin," Singh said.

The BJP leader said the demand for the radio station was raised soon after the 1965 war and that one of the reasons cited was that radio signals from Radio Pakistan tended to be dominating.

However, he said, the people of Udhampur had to wait for 50 years for the Modi government to take over and respond to this demand.