Jammu, Mar 15: Minister for Jal Shakti Javid Ahmad Rana said that an amount of Rs. 2083 crore has been earmarked for flood management of River Jhelum and its tributaries under the PMDP package of 2015 after the September 2014 deluge.
The Minister, who was replying to a question raised by Farooq Ahmad Shah, informed that the carrying capacity of the river Jhelum has been enhanced from 31800 cusecs to 41000 cusecs in Srinagar Reach.
The Minister said that the DPRs for flood management were subsequently framed for implementation in two phases, Phase I and Phase II, for short-term and long-term flood measures. He further informed that Phase-I was approved for Rs.399.29 crore in 2015-16 by the Ministry for Water Resources (MOWR) and is nearing completion where as Phase II (Part-A only) was approved by MOWR in March 2022 for an estimated cost of Rs. 1623.43 crore to mitigate flood threat of 60,000 cusecs on river Jhelum.
The Minister said that the project is under execution and Rs. 114.293 crore from Central Assistance have been spent on it. He added that a total of 30 bank protection works are being executed under this project, out of which 29 have been tendered and 16 are complete. The progress of these works is 80% in aggregate.
He informed that DPR of “Comprehensive Flood Management works on River Jhelum and its tributaries- Phase-II” was framed at an estimated cost of Rs. 5411.54 crore, and the same was submitted to the DoWR (RD&GR), MoJS, Gol for approval.
The Minister said that in-principle approval was accorded by the State Administrative Council with the stipulation that while the department may proceed with implementation of Part-A (estimated at Rs. 1684.6 cr.) utilizing the available funds, concerning the remaining, i.e., Part-B, the department may explore financing options. Thereafter, in July 2022, Administrative Approval for Part A of Phase-II has been accorded for Rs. 1623.43 crore.
The Minister said that entry and exit gates in Hokersar wetland have been completed for Rs. 28.45 crore, which is pivotal for the rejuvenation of the Hokersar wetland.