After missing six deadlines, dept aims to complete project by March next year
The much-awaited artificial lake on the Tawi river still seems to be a distant dream as the Department of Irrigation and Flood Control (I&FC) has set another deadline of March, 2017, for completion of civil work.
The Rs 69.70-crore artificial lake project, started in 2010, has missed six deadlines till now as work has remained suspended for more than 20 months since 2010.
The department claims that the work is being done in a full swing, but surprisingly the proportion of civil work done has not increased from 95 per cent since 2015.
In July, 2015, while replying to an RTI application, the government said that the date of completion of the barrage portion of the lake project stood revised to 2016.
The department had revealed that 95 per cent civil work and 90 per cent mechanical work had been completed and Rs 54.68 crore had been spent on Tawi barrage project, which would be completed by the end of March 31, 2016.
I&FC Chief Engineer Rajeev Gandotra said, “The deadline for the civil work and barrage is March, 2017, this will be done by our department. Rest will be done by the Jammu Development Authority (JDA).”
“As much as 95 per cent of the civil work has been done. The work is in a full swing and will be completed by March, 2017,” he added.
The project landed into controversy when then Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed announced on May 15, 2015, in the presence of incumbent Deputy Chief Minister Nirmal Singh that this lake project was not feasible on the river.
Later, the then PHE Minister, Sukhnandan Chowdhary, contradicting the CM’s statement said that the project would be completed within the set time frame. He also sought intervention of the Union Water Resources Ministry to get it completed.
Notably, Sukhnandan was not given a Cabinet birth in Mehbooba Mufti’s government after the death of Mufti Sayeed.
