SRINAGAR: The Jammu and Kashmir Government has informed the Legislative Assembly that the long-pending Khokhyal Check Dam project in Kathua is officially known as the Wajoo Check Dam and remains incomplete more than 15 years after it was first taken up, despite over Rs 22 crore having already been spent on it.
Replying to Starred Assembly Question tabled by MLA Bharat Bhushan, the Jal Shakti Department clarified that there is no project by the name Khokhval or Khokhyal Check Dam in official records. Instead, the dam under reference is the Wajoo Check Dam located at village Khokhyal in Nagri, Kathua, which was initiated during the 2008–09 financial year to augment irrigation facilities in Khokhyal and adjoining areas.
The department stated that the work began on time and around 70 per cent of the weir component of the proposed check dam was completed. However, construction had to be halted after local inhabitants demanded settlement of land compensation claims and prevented further execution. The prolonged delay in resolving the dispute led to price escalation, increasing the overall cost of the project and rendering the available funds insufficient to complete the remaining work. As a result, the project has remained abandoned.
To secure additional funding, the department submitted a revised Detailed Project Report to the Central Water Commission. The proposal, however, was returned with the observation that the scheme had already been included earlier in a cluster of 54 small and medium irrigation projects under the Accelerated Irrigation Benefits Programme during 2007–08 and had received central assistance. Consequently, it could not be considered again for fresh central funding under the same programme.
The government said that a comprehensive proposal is now being formulated to complete the balance work, taking into account the changed site conditions and current requirements.
Financial details shared in the Assembly reveal that substantial funds have already been invested over the years. Expenditure began picking up from 2010–11 onward and continued intermittently until 2018–19, after which spending virtually stopped as the project remained stalled. In total, around Rs 21.97 crore has been incurred on civil works, with an additional Rs 58.22 lakh spent on the mechanical component, taking the cumulative expenditure to approximately Rs 22.55 crore.
Despite this significant outlay, the check dam has not been made functional and no specific timeline has been fixed for its completion. The government indicated that further progress will depend on approval of the fresh proposal and availability of funds.
The project was originally conceived to strengthen irrigation infrastructure and improve water availability for farmers in parts of Kathua district, but delays linked to land issues and funding constraints have kept it incomplete for more than a decade.
