Posted on September 18, 2017
By Irshad Khan, The Kashmit Monitor
Barely a week after a ministerial panel claimed it would verify credentials of a company in fray for dredging of Wular Lake, the constituent ministers seem clueless over the matter.
The panel said that it would look into a Chinese dredging firm, Hubei Hongyan Engineering Company Limited, a joint contender with the Kolkata-based Reach Dredging Limited to bag the Wular dredging project.
The latter has already been hired by the Irrigation and Flood Control (I&FC) Department to dredge the Jhelum.
The two companies, while putting a joint bid of Rs 376 crore for dredging the lake, have agreed to pay Rs 201 crore back to the government for the willow trees it will extract from the water body.
Clueless over the matter, Minister for Forests, Ecology & Environment, Lal Singh, who is part of the ministerial panel, surprisingly asked, “Where does the Chinese firm come into the picture?”
Saying that the matter was “not related to my ministry”, Minister for Education, Altaf Bukhari, a panel member, said, “I have no knowledge of it.”
Asked why Reach Dredging Limited was awarded the dredging project after it failed to dredge the Jhelum in time, Minister for Cooperatives and Ladakh Affairs, Chering Dorjay, said, “That is why the Chinese firm is also there. It will assist them (Reach Dredging Limited).”
Dorjay also said that dredging the Jhelum was “a bit difficult” as “it has flowing water”.
“Dredging Wular will be easier for them as the water in it is still.”
Reach Dredging Limited, which has failed to dredge the Jhelum after repeated extensions in the deadlines, was even blacklisted by I&FC a few months ago.
However, Chief Engineer I&FC, Imtiyaz, said the department was “satisfied” with the firm’s current dredging work.
The firm was hired by the department to expedite the dredging work in wake of the devastating 2014 floods.
The proposed dredging of the Lake would enhance the carrying capacity of the lake to two crore cubic metres, Coordinator Water Management, Wular Conservation Management Authority (WUCMA), Irfan Rasool, told The Kashmir Monitor.
The embankments of the lake would also be strengthened, he said.
“We are planning a boulevard along the lake, which would connect Sopore with Bandipora,” he added.
As per the directory of the wetlands of India, the area of the lake is 189 sq km. However as per revenue records, its area is 130 sq km. It is the natural flood basin for the river Jhelum.
Source: The Kashmir Monitor
