Srinagar- Chief Secretary, Atal Dulloo, chaired a meeting to take stock of ongoing works on various roads and bridges taken under PMGSY, CRIF, NABARD and UT Capex across Jammu and Kashmir.
Secretary, PWD; Secretary, Law; Engineer-in-Chief; Deputy Commissioners; Chief Engineers besides senior officers from the concerned department attended the meeting.
Outstation officers participated in the meeting through video conferencing.
The Chief Secretary, during this meeting, enquired about the starting dates of works on these Roads and Bridges taken under different phases of PM Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY), Central Road Infrastructure Fund (CRIF), NABARD funding and UT Capex.
He noted that the work on remaining 11 habitations under phase-I of PMGSY needs to be expedited under every circumstance besides strenuous efforts should be made to complete works on Long Span Bridges (LSBs) under progress in various districts of J&K.
Dulloo observed that since reorganization of the department, there is sufficient manpower including senior engineers available in peripheral areas. He maintained that this should entail better supervision and quality outcomes for the department.
He exhorted upon the senior functionaries of PWD like Chief Engineers and SEs to take field visits on regular basis to remain updated of works being undertaken in their respective jurisdictions. He stressed on ensuring timely completion of projects by closely monitoring their pace on ground.
The Chief Secretary also advised the officers to take swift actions in resolution of bottlenecks like land compensation, seeking forest clearances or other contractor related concerns. He asked them to avail the assistance of divisional/district administrations for executing swift actions on ground.
In his presentation Secretary, PWD, gave an overview of the works in progress under these programs. He highlighted the achievements made by the department in the past few years regarding completion of roads, bridges and blacktopping of thousands of kilometers of riding surfaces all across the UT.
He informed the meeting that under PMGSY I & II 18, 205 Kms of road length and 217 LSBs stands were completed connecting 2129 habitations in J&K. Under PMGSY-III, 1207 kms of road length, 66 LSBs are currently at different stages of completion, he added.
It was further given out that the department is making all efforts to take up the 1820 unconnected habitations under PMGSY-IV having around 100-250 households as per 2011 census.
It was revealed that 294 projects had been taken under CRIF at a cumulative cost of Rs 4317 Cr of which 173 works stands completed till date.
Regarding the Bridge Program, it was revealed that 143 LSBs at a sanctioned cost of Rs 515.54 Cr were undertaken, out of which 36 have been completed and more 36 are slated to be finished by the end 9f this financial year.
Among the targets for 2024-25 it was given out that macadamization of 5000 Kms of road length under various central & UT sector schemes would be achieved,100 bridges sanctioned under various schemes, 2338 works under UT Capex, 200 Roads/Bridges sanctioned under NABARD besides completion of 1100 Kms of road length under PMGSY would also be completed during this period.
CS Reviews Electricity & Water Supply Scenario In J&K
Chief Secretary, Atal Dulloo,reviewed the supply scenario of water and electricity in J&K.
The meeting was called in view of the ongoing heat wave besides assessing the response mechanism being adopted by the government to ensure uninterrupted supply of drinking water, irrigation and electricity to the consumers as per designated schedules.
Present in the meeting were Chairman, JKWRRA, Additional Chief Secretary, Jal Shakti Department, Principal Secretary, Power; Principal Secretary, Finance, Commissioner Secretary, H&UDD, Divisional Commissioner, Kashmir/Jammu, Deputy Commissioners, Commissioner, JMC/SMC, MD JPDCL/KPDCL/JJM; Directors of IMD & Remote Sensing and Chief Engineers of Jal Shakti Jammu/Kashmir besides senior officers from Jal Shakti and PDD departments.
Outstation officers participated in the meeting through video conferencing.
The Chief Secretary enquired about the status of present water levels in main rivers of Jhelum and Chenab. He also asked for a comparison about drop in levels from last year due to deficient rainfall which amounts to around 50% this year. He asked for measures to tackle the ongoing heat wave conditions in the UT especially putting an efficient response mechanism in place to address the public complaints.
The Chief Secretary directed the Jal Shakti and Housing & Urban Development departments to ensure an uninterrupted water supply, especially in areas facing drinking water shortages. He called for making assessment of both the machinery and infrastructure in view of the present climatic conditions. He advised for taking both the short and long term measures to augment supply of drinking and irrigation waters as per the requirements on ground.
He directed the Deputy Commissioners to submit regular reports on the status of power and water supply in their respective districts, ensuring continuous monitoring and swift action whenever needed. He asked for establishment of control rooms at the district level for instant resolution of complaints regarding these essential supplies in their areas.
Dulloo further instructed for ascertaining the need for deployment of additional water tankers so that people do not face any inconvenience due to water scarcity. He directed to ensure the supply of drinking water in villages right up to the tail end.
He also took note of the power scenario prevailing in the UT. He advised that people should be provided electricity as per the designated schedules. He impressed upon the Department to be ready with the contingency plans to address any unforeseen circumstances.
On the occasion, the Additional Chief Secretary, Jal Shakti Department gave a detailed overview of present water levels, supply management and future preparedness of the department to handle the heat wave conditions both in Jammu and Kashmir provinces.
He said that the Department has devised a roadmap to address shortfalls in drinking water and irrigation supplies. He revealed that the average gauge readings in both the rivers of Jhelum and Chenab have reduced substantially by several feet which had put many water and irrigation schemes in distress across the UT.
He further informed the meeting about the mitigation measures taken by the department during the past three months. He added that the tanker services had been put in service in the water shortage areas besides constituting task-force to tackle the misuse of water.
Regarding irrigation sector, the meeting was apprised that temporary diversion bunds/pickup weirs/muthu bunds and channelisation etc is being under taken to divert maximum flow towards head regulators.
It was further given out that the steps like Warabandi- providing water on rotational basis to agricultural fields through Zildari wings and farmer participation and by proper regulation of gates for effective distribution of water into different distributaries is being ensured to give immediate succour to the citizens here.
The Principal Secretary, PDD, informed the meeting about the current electricity scenario in the UT. He made out that till now no major crisis has been witnessed as an additional supply of 200 MWs has been added to meet our demands in the heat-prone areas of Jammu.
It was further divulged that an electricity of about 21-24 hours is being provided in metered areas and 18-20 hours in non-metered areas by KPDCL. For Jammu, the schedule has been done away with in view of the scorching heat there. It was added that the status of power supply there is better and satisfactory with least number of complaints.
On the occasion, the general public was appealed to abstain from any sort of misuse of these amenities and Deputy Commissioners/ departments were asked to act against online boosters and other misuse of water strictly.
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