Excelsior Correspondent
KATHUA, May 21: Principal Secretary, Jal Shakti Department, Ashok Kumar Parmar, along with his counterpart from Punjab, Principal Secretary, Department of Water Resources, Krishan Kumar, jointly inspected progress on prestigious Shahpur Kandi Dam project.
Both the Principal Secretaries convened a high level meeting at project site in which Divisional Commissioner, Jammu, Ramesh Kumar, Deputy Commissioner, Kathua, Rahul Pandey, Deputy Commissioner, Samba, Anuradha Gupta, ADC Kathua, Atul Gupta, ACR Kathua, Sandeep Seointra and other concerned officers were present.
It was decided in the meeting that there will be a monthly review of progress on the project so as to ensure that work is done expeditiously towards project completion.
He directed the officers to keep provision of security check at the confluence point from Basantpur side. Besides, the issue of staff crunch was also discussed during the meeting in response to which both sides agreed to station the required manpower.
Principal Secretary directed the Chief Engineer PWD to speed up the construction work on Noora bridge which falls on Lakhanpur- Basohli road ensuring its completion before July 2023. He exhorted upon the executing agencies to remove all existing bottlenecks hampering the work as the project is of national importance.
The meeting also had discussion on issues pertaining to J&K such as raising of crest level of head regulator of hydel channel, construction of head regulators for Ravi Canal, construction of balance portion of Ravi canal and fall at confluence point, construction of aqueduct on Sukhal Khad, construction of Syphon for Kashmir Canal including shifting of alignment of Lakhanpur-Basohli road including construction of Noora Bridge, land acquisition, cost of structures and felling of trees.
Parmar directed the Deputy Commissioner Kathua to expedite the matter of land acquisition besides asking Division Manager FDC Jammu to expedite the work on felling of trees so that construction of Ravi canal can be started at the earliest.
Meanwhile, Principal Secretary visited Ujh Barrage to review implementation of Ujh multipurpose project, which is a venture of national importance being monitored by Prime Minister Office and Union Ministry of Home Affairs.
Executive Director, Power Development Corporation, Jankar Nath, Chief Engineer, Irrigation and Flood Control/Ravi Tawi Irrigation Canal, Hamesh Manchanda, Deputy Commissioner, Kathua, Rahul Pandey, Deputy Commissioner, Samba, Anuradha Gupta, Superintending Engineer, RTCC, Ajay Gupta, Superintending Engineer, PDC, Vikas Sharma and other officers accompanied the Principal Secretary during the visit.
Principal Secretary instructed the Jammu & Kashmir State Power Development Corporation to continue functioning as Nodal Agency to get all the statutory clearances in respect of Defence, Tribal Affairs, Forest, Wildlife, Environmental and all allied departments till the project authority is engaged by the Government of India.
Ashok Parmar asked the Deputy Commissioners Kathua and Samba to constitute District Level Task Force to handle the issues of forest, environment and wildlife clearances, acquisition of land and shifting of utilities besides related matters. He also asked them to facilitate project authority for detailed topographical survey.
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