SRINAGAR: Jammu and Kashmir, which was devastated by unprecedented floods last year, will have a World Bank-supported Disaster Management Authority (SDMA) operational from March next year to meet such challenges in the future and take preventive steps.
World Bank official Saurabh Dani met state Chief Secretary Iqbal Khandey here today and briefed him about the implementation of the Disaster Response and Resilience Project approved by the World Bank Board for the State.
“As part of the project, we will fully support the endeavor of the State Government to have a fully operational SDMA in place that is dedicated to disaster management throughout the year,” Dani said.
He said the project is expected to be ready for mobilization of the works by March next year.
“We are in the implementation phase now and it is expected that by March-2016 we are ready for mobilization of the works,” Dani said.
He added that a lot of work needs to be done in terms of prioritizing and designing of the works, bidding process and clearances for which timelines have to be fixed in consultation with the line departments to take the recovery project forward.
As part of the project, the World Bank Mission is also looking at preventing the kind of infrastructural damage that took place last year in the future, Dani said. (AGENCIES)
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