Posted on May 30, 2017
J&K chief minister Mehbooba Mufti on Friday called for urgent and early completion of flood protection works in river Jhelum in view of coming rainy season.
Chairing the maiden meeting of Cabinet Sub-Committee on Jhelum dredging, Mehbooba instructed that dredging of the river at Srinagar and Baramulla be intensified and earth-cutting at Bemina and Naidkhai started to “give water a downward push.”
“She also called for introduction of a daily measurement system for silt discharge and submission of a regular report to the concerned authorities. She also directed making available sufficient number of geo-bags with the concerned departments for use in case of emergencies,” a J&K government spokesman said.
The CSC reviewed the status of works of Phase-I of the Comprehensive Flood Management Plan costing around Rs 400 crore and preparation of DPRs for Rs 1684 crore Phase-II.
“The Chief Minister directed simultaneous running of both the Phases to ensure early flood protection to people living in catchments of the river,” the spokesman said. “She directed immediate induction of two cutter suction dredges for which an amount of Rs 26 crore has already been sanctioned.”
The chief minister asked minister for PHE, Irrigation & Flood Control and minister for Education, who also represents Amira Kadal constituency in the Assembly, to jointly have periodic inspections of the dredging spots and ensure establishment of convergent working atmosphere on ground between project executing agencies and the people.
Deputy chief minister Dr Nirmal Singh, minister for PHE, Irrigation & Flood Control, Shyam Choudhary; minister for Education, Syed Altaf Bukhari, who are the members of the committee, attended the meeting.
Mehbooba emphasized the need to introduce water transport in river Jhelum. She said it would not only give a push to tourist activities but also revive the century-old tradition back in Kashmir.
“The chief minister was informed that a central team from Inland Waterways Authority of India headed by its Chief Engineer has already conducted a pre-feasibility survey in this regard which is in its advanced stage,” the spokesman said.
Chief secretary B B Vyas; principal secretary to Chief Minister, Rohit Kansal; secretary, PHE, Irrigation & Flood Control, Saurabh Baghat were also present in the meeting.
The cabinet sub-committee, it may be recalled, was constituted last month to fast-track dredging and de-silting in river Jhelum and oversee the completion of the Comprehensive Flood Management works in a time-bound manner.
Source: Greater Kashmir
