Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas for Petroleum, and Housing and Urban Affairs Hardeep Singh Puri and Lieutenant Governor of Jammu & Kashmir Manoj Sinha laid the foundation stone for the ONGC Disaster Management Centre in Kashmir on Tuesday.

The centre is touted to play a pivotal role in providing essential amenities such as lodging, sanitation, and safe drinking water. It will serve as a central hub for distributing vital information and delivering relief measures during emergencies.

Additionally, it will contribute to traffic management and ensure a seamless tourist and pilgrimage experience, with a special focus on facilitating boarding and lodging facilities for needy tourists and pilgrims, said an official spokesman.

Inspired by the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) Limited is funding the construction of National Disaster Mitigation Centre and Yatri Niwas in Sidhra, Jammu.

Every year, lakhs of tourists visit Srinagar and Amarnath. The large footfalls have been causing logistical challenge for a long time, especially for the needy tourists and pilgrims. This ONGC-funded Yatri Niwas will solve this logistical challenge to a large extent, by providing accommodation for 30,000 tourists in a year, thus staggering the movement of tourists and pilgrims, said the spokesman.

Moreover, the local population, including unskilled, semi-skilled, and skilled workers, artisans, craftsmen, daily wage laborers, street vendors, and weavers, will also experience the positive impact of increased footfalls resulting from these ONGC-created facilities.

The construction of the National Disaster Mitigation Center and Yatri Niwas will take place on a 1.84-acre (8378 square meter) plot, with an approximate built-up area of 1.875 acres (8500 square meters). ONGC, through its Corporate Infrastructure Group, will oversee implementation of this project to ensure its timely and efficient completion, while also upholding its commitment to corporate social responsibility (CSR).

As a part of its extensive Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiative, ONGC has made a generous pledge of Rs. 51 crore to support this project. This substantial undertaking, funded by India’s Energy Maharatna ONGC, further demonstrates its unwavering commitment to serve the nation, the spokesman said.

The event was attended by the Chairman and CEO of ONGC Arun Kumar Singh, as well as other guests. The ceremony was also attended by senior officials from the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir and ONGC.