SRINAGAR: The government on Wednesday said that the Prime Minister’s Development Package (PMDP) project for Comprehensive Flood Management works on river Jhelum are going on at a pace, saying that one of the two phases has been almost completed.
Chief Engineer Irrigation and Flood control (I&FC), Iftikhaar Kakroo told the news agency KNO that the PMDP project for Comprehensive Flood Management works on river Jhelum was divided into two phases.
He said that 95 per cent work of Phase-I has been completed so far and it is in its final stage now. The Phase-I was worth Rs 399 Crores, he informed.
Kakroo further informed that phase-II of the project worth Rs 1630 Crore will be started in the upcoming financial year. He added that the project will be completed in three years. “It is a three-year project and the work over it will be started very soon,” he informed.
Several works including the dredging process and other related works were started in river Jhelum and other streams across the Valley following the 2014 deluge that damaged property worth crores in the Valley besides claiming dozens of lives as well.
It is worth mentioning here that the dredging process got delayed as the project missed several deadlines.
Pertinently, the chief Engineer in a meeting chaired by the Advisor to Lieutenant Governor, Rajeev Rai Bhatnagar, had informed that under Phase I, the discharge carrying capacity of river Jhelum has been increased from 31800 cusecs to 41000 cusecs while as the carrying capacity of Flood Spill Channel (FSC) Padshahi Bagh has been increased from 4000 to 8700 cusecs.
He had also revealed that re-sectioning at Bemina and Shariefabad of FSC has been completed while as the construction of two bridges at NaidKhai and Shariefabad on FSC is going on and will be completed within a month.
During the meeting, Advisor Bhatnagar had stressed on the officers to maintain the quality of works besides taking up proactive measures to make the flood management successful. He had asked them to ensure that all the ongoing works are completed within the fixed timelines.
He had directed the concerned officials to raise the embankments at all vulnerable spots besides carrying out dredging works at critical points to increase the carrying capacity of the river and FSC.
Advisor Bhatnagar had further directed the officials to evolve an effective mechanism for controlling the soil erosion around the embankments besides formulating a long term plan for the management of tributaries so as to reduce the impact of floods.
