The Government of India’s key infrastructure projects in J&K have been hit by delays, raising questions on the central government’s promises to bring about socio- economic development in the State, according to officials.
A cursory look at the mega central-sector projects being executed in the State reveals that all of them have failed to meet deadlines fixed for their commissioning.
The projects—which could have been of immense benefit to over 1. 25 crore souls of the State—are being executed at a snail’s pace, with interventions from top offices including the Prime Minister’s Office failing to speed up the work.
The State government too has failed to clear bottlenecks in the projects even as a high-level panel headed by Chief Secretary was set-up for the purpose following the Government of India’s directions in 2011.
Udhampur -Baramulla Rail Link
The Centre’s ambitious rail connectivity program between Baramulla and Udhampur is embroiled in delays over the past two decades. While Udhampur- Katra (25 km) and Banihal-Baramulla (138 km) portions of the route have been completed, the work on Katra-Banihal stretch is yet to be finished. According to an official document of the Union Ministry of Statistics and Program Implementation, the deadline for completion of the project has been revised to 2018.
In 2002, then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajaypee had declared the rail link as a “project of national importance” and had set a five-year deadline for its completion.
Cleared by the Government of India in March 1995, the project is now anticipated to cost Rs 19565 crore against the original estimate of Rs 2500 crore—the escalation of 682 percent.
The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG), in 2012, while taking note of the long delay and cost escalation in the project, slammed the Government of India for its “poor planning.”
“The single most important reason for delay and other related problems in execution of the project is poor planning,” the CAG had observed.
Kishanganga Hydroelectric Project
The 330-MW Kishanganga hydroelectric project is facing time overrun as well as cost escalation.
J&K would get 12 percent free power from the project being executed by the National Hydroelectric Corporation (NHPC).
The project is now expected to be completed by November 2016—10 months behind its original schedule of completion.
From initial outlay of Rs 3642.04 crore, the project is anticipated to cost over Rs 5400 crore.
Srinagar-Jammu Highway Projects
The document lays bare that road projects executed by concessionaires of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) are running behind schedule due to land acquisition and slow pace of execution work .
All four projects—Srinagar-Banihal, Qazigund-Banihal, Nashri-Chenani and Jammu-Udhampur—have missed the first date of completion, prompting the NHAI to fix new timelines for their commissioning.
The two remaining portions of Srinagar-Jammu highway (Banihal-Ramban and Ramban-Udhampur) were cleared for widening by the Union Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs last year.
The inordinate delay in completion of the projects has upset the Kashmiri’s civil society and business community.
Noted civil society activist and former president of Federation Chamber of Industries Kashmir (FCIK), Shakeel Qalandar blamed both Centre and State governments for delays in completion of the projects.
“While political and bureaucratic class in New Delhi is non-serious about (completion of) these projects, the State government too has failed in fulfilling its obligations vis-a-vis land acquisition,” he said.
He said before the Partition, J&K was connected with the outer world though a rail line.
“In 1897, we were connected with Sialkot through railways but that link was abandoned after 1947. From 1948, the Government of India has been telling us that we will connect the J&K particularly Kashmir with the outer world (through a rail link) but that promise has proved to be a hoax,” he said.
He said four-laning of Jammu-Srinagar highway is part of the Government of India’s program of building four/six-lane expressway connecting Srinagar and KanyaKumari, known as North-South corridor.
“While the corridor has been completed in other states, it is ironic that these projects are still incomplete here,” he said.
