The story of State Government’s inexcusable intransigence in speeding up the task of protecting the low lying areas along the course of Jhelum and Tawi and their tributaries is sordid and disappointing. Nothing reflects Government’s abject apathy and dismal performance in taking steps that are of crucial importance to securing the vulnerable areas in the two provinces from floods that occur in the aftermath of continuous rains. It appears that the Government has learnt nothing from the horrible disaster that visited both the regions of the State, namely Valley and Jammu region, as a result of devastating floods of September 2014.
After the floods, the State Government persuaded the Central Government to think of long term project of securing the low lying areas along the course of two major rivers namely Jhelum and Tawi. After a lot of spadework the project was drafted and forwarded to the World Bank for financing. World Bank teams paid several visits to the sites and finally after much skullduggery an agreement was signed between the World Bank and the Government of India according to which India was to receive amount of 250 Million US Dollar credit under the Jhelum and Tawi Flood Recovery Project in January 2016. The credit is to be utilized within three years as per the norms of the World Bank. However, although one year has passed when the credit was released, there is no work on the ground all this period of one year. What will be the fate of the project at the end of the day, will it be completed in two years or not is moot point. We had attempted to reach the bottom of this deadlock and what it has found is shocking and dismaying. This project has seven components-reconstruction and strengthening of critical infrastructure; reconstruction of roads and bridges; restoration of urban flood management infrastructure; restoration and strengthening of livelihoods; strengthening disaster risk management capacity; contingent emergency response and implementation support.
Even a Steering Committee, Project Management Unit and Project Implementing Units were constituted and entrusted with different responsibilities so as to kick start work on the project. The unwarranted delay in formulation of DPRs is mainly because Project Management Unit doesn’t have direct control over Project Implementing Units, which have their own Administrative Secretaries and Ministers. Project Implementing Units-Public Works Department, Srinagar Municipal Corporation and Industries and Commerce Department were required to formulate DPRs which have not been formed except by the Industries and Commerce Department. Actually what we understand is that basically no serious attention was paid towards having unified operational system for the execution of Rs 1500 crore worth project at the time of working out Project Implementation Arrangements.
Now, Project Management Unit is lacking the powers as well as bare minimum manpower required for performing the duties assigned to it.
We fail to understand why unified operational system was ignored in respect of Rs 1500 crore worth World Bank funded project and implementation arrangements were worked out in such a manner that ensuring coordination between Project Management Unit and Project Implementing Units has become a challenging task.
The Government must intervene immediately in this messy affair and not allow things to drift to a situation where the State shall have to cut a sorry figure before the World Bank. Anybody finding us embroiled in an internal bickering over this mega project with full knowledge about its importance to the safety of people and their property will simply laugh at our foolhardiness. The departments concerned are not realizing how they are playing with the lives and properties of the people. Half of the total time allotted for the implementation of the project has gone and with the senseless struggle going on between the departments concerned showing no sign of abating, there is little hope that the project will ever be taken up leave aside bringing it to completing after one and half a year from now.
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