Interception & diversion of Nallahs yet to be completed
*UEED works delayed for want of sufficient funds
Mohinder Verma
JAMMU, July 28: Though work on River Tawi Barrage has almost been completed by the Irrigation and Flood Control Department yet permanent pondage to create artificial lake will take time mainly because of delay in completion of interception and diversion work of 14 Nallahs flowing directly into the water body.
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Official sources told EXCELSIOR that all the gates of River Tawi Barrage have been installed by the Irrigation and Flood Control Department and only small work on damaged abutment is pending, which is likely to be completed within another 10-15 days.
“No doubt, some more ancillary works are required to be completed but the same will not take much time and will also not create any problem in pondage. As far as stopping of water to create artificial lake is concerned all the required works have almost been completed”, they said.
They further said, “shortly the department will be in a position to stop the water but not beyond two-three days as in the absence of diversion of Nallahs following into the river the pondage will give shabby look and generate unpleasant smell”, adding “the pondage is also not possible as some works being executed by Jammu Smart City Limited on the banks of River Tawi are also pending”.
After remaining suspended for quite long time, the work on River Tawi Barrage was restarted in the month of September 2022 keeping in view the recommendations made by a team of Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Roorkee regarding the technical aspects of the project. Subsequently, various experts and stakeholders were roped in and a comprehensive roadmap was prepared to develop the Tawi Barrage into a major tourist attraction.
The Tawi Barrage will create a pondage of 1.41 million cubic meters and its auto mechanical and manual operated gated barrage will be controlled through SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) system.
For interception and diversion of Nallahs flowing into River Tawi, the Urban Environmental Engineering Department (UEED) has prepared two different projects—one for 10 Nallahs on the right bank of River Tawi from Tawi Bridge up to Madrassa Gujjar Nagar and another for four Nallahs on right bank of River Tawi from Madrassa Gujjar Nagar up to Dhounthly.
On Package 1, only 60% civil work has been completed till date although the completion time was June 2024. “The contractor has been given only Rs 2 crore as against the expenditure of Rs 6-7 crore as a result of which he is not in a position to gear up the remaining work”, sources informed.
“The machinery which is required to be fixed has already been ordered by the contractor but for want of sufficient funds he is not in a position to purchase the same”, they said, adding “had sufficient funds been made available the work on Package 1 would have been completed within the stipulated timeline”.
As far as Package 2 is concerned, sources said, “funding was also an issue for this project but now the Letter of Intent (LoI) has been issued by the UEED and it has been decided that funds will be provided through CAPEX Budget”, adding “the work will commence only after the completion of all the legal formalities by UEED with the contractor and thereafter minimum nine months would be required to complete the project”.
“In such a situation, even after completion of work on Tawi Barrage within next one month the Irrigation and Flood Control Department will not be in a position to create artificial lake as without diversion of Nallahs pondage will give shabby look and generate foul smell”, sources said and hoped that all the formalities for completion of both the packages of UEED will be completed at the relevant quarters so that long pending project becomes reality.
It is pertinent to mention here that Artificial Lake project will enhance scenic beauty, increase tourism potential of the City of Temples and it will also ensure creation of recreational spots for people.
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