The scale of damages caused by the devastating floods of 2014 are so vast that the Government had to look for international funding sources to rebuild the damaged infrastructure and rehabilitate the flood affected families in the State. Two major rivers in the State, namely Jhelum in Kashmir and Tawi in Jammu, were the main sources whose overflowed waters had caused havoc. Though much has been written on the deficiencies that we have in managing the floods, yet in practice despite the lapse of two years, nothing concrete has been done on the ground to secure the people against floods when heavy rains pour unexpectedly.
In addition to whatever relief and support the Central Government provided the State Government need much more support if the damaged infrastructure was to be rebuilt and normalcy restored to life in both parts of the State. On the request of the State Government, the Union Government took up the matter of obtaining loan from the World Bank to rebuild the damages suffered by the State. Talks with the representatives of the World Bank started in 2015 with the participation of the Central and State Government representatives. On January 5, 2015 World Bank deputed a Joint Rapid Damage and Needs Assessment (RDNA) Mission to J&K which estimated the total damages and loss caused by the floods to the public service infrastructure including hospitals, roads and bridges and educational institutions. After negotiations were conducted between the parties, preliminary agreement on financing arrangement between the Government of India and World Bank was signed in April 2015 for Rs 1500 crore loan.
The system of the World Bank is that the sanctioned loan is released in installments and on the receipt of Detailed Project Reports duly prepared in accordance with its guidelines. There is time limit for submission of the DPRs enabling the lending authority to release installment of the loan. Unfortunately, in this case, all departments of the State Government have not submitted DPRs despite reminders from the World Bank.
According to the official information out of Rs 1500 crore loan an amount of Rs 360 crore has-been earmarked for reconstruction and strengthening of flood-hit critical infrastructure, Rs 480 crore for reconstruction of roads and bridges, Rs 300 crore for reconstruction of urban flood management infrastructure, Rs 90 crore for restoration and strengthening of livelihoods, Rs 150 crore for strengthening disaster risk management capacity and Rs 120 crore for contingency emergency response.
This distribution shows that multiple Government departments are involved in implementing the rehabilitation and reconstruction plan. We are told that DPRs have been prepared only in Roads and Buildings and Health while as process of preparation of the rest of the sectors, particularly flood protection and management is still on. The important question is that the sector of urban flood management and protection details are vital but have remained neglected so far. The plans for control and management of floods means de-silting of river beds, removal of obstructions and encroachments, raising and strengthening of bunds, cleaning of exit channels including diversion channels. These are not only urgent but also essential works that should have been taken up on priority basis. As long as these protective measures are not adopted or encroachments and obstructions to smooth flow of water is not removed the danger of rivers and nullahs flooding the villages and localities even in urban areas persists. It is surprising that the Flood Control Department has not prepared the DPR so far. This is a serious reflection on this Department’s functioning. Despite clear instructions from the Minister concerned in a meeting which was held to review the status of DPRs, no initiative has been taken to prepare the report. We do not want that the credibility of the State should come under criticism at the level of the Union Government and the World Bank and concerned authorities in the State shall have to pay attention to it.
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