SRINAGAR: Governor N.N. Vohra, chaired the 21st meeting of the Governing Body of the J&K ERA at the State Secretariat today. Shri B.B. Vyas, Shri K. Vijay Kumar, Shri Khurshid Ahmad Ganai, Advisors to the Governor; Shri B.V.R. Subrahmanyam, Chief Secretary; Sh. Naveen Chowdhary, Principal Secretary Finance; Sh. Rohit Kansal, Principal Secretary PD&MD; Sh. Khurshid Ahmad Shah, Commissioner, PW(R&B) Department; and Sh. Farooq Ahmad Shah, Secretary PHE, Irrigation and Flood Control attended the meeting.
Sh. Satish Razdan, CEO JKERA made a detailed Presentation on the activities of ERA and informed, interalia, that out of 32 sub projects under Jammu & Kashmir Urban Sector Investment Development Programme (JKUSIDP), 20 Sub Projects stand completed which include major projects such as mechanized car parking at City Chowk Jammu, Bikram Chowk Fly Over at Jammu, Machanised Car Parking at Old KMDA Bus Stand, Srinagar, and New Mehjoor Bridge.
CEO stated that out of the 12 Sub Projects in progress, 10 projects were targeted for completion by October 2018 and the remaining two by June 2019 and against the approved cost of Rs. 1994 crores, Rs. 1591 crores had been spent on the projects till date. He further informed that 12 MGD Doodh Ganga Water Supply Scheme (upgradation) involving a cost of Rs. 43.00 crores was currently undergoing pre commissioning testing and was nearing completion. The scheme is expected to be fully functional by October 2018.
While reviewing the progress of Jehangir Chowk Rambagh Fly Over Project, Governor observed that this project had missed several deadlines. Taking a strong view of the slow progress and the recurring delay in construction he issued strong directions to the CEO ERA to closely monitor the pace of construction and ensure that the project was completed in the shortest possible time. He also directed CEO to ensure that all impediments, whether technical or contractual, must be resolved without any delay and CEO should furnish fortnightly progress reports to the Planning Secretary who would send the same to Governor.
While reviewing the overall pace of completion of projects, Governor observed that ERA should take urgent steps to build its capacity for taking up larger sizes of projects and monitoring them effectively to ensure their completion without time or cost overruns. CEO was advised to evolve and utilize internal capacities and also utilise the expertise available with external consultancies to timely deliver its targets.
Governor expressed dissatisfaction in regard to a project which had been completed and commissioned but not yet taken over by the line Department. He directed Planning Secretary to issue an immediate circular to all line Departments for promptly taking over projects which had been completed. In the case of 30 MLD STP at Bhagwati Nagar Jammu, he directed that the concerned line Department, UEED, should take over this STP immediately and ensure its smooth functioning.
Nothing with satisfaction that discussions on the next tranche of US$ 500 million loan from ADB were proceeding apace and that ERA had prepared a shelf of projects to be considered for inclusion in the next package, Governor emphasized that while finalizing the projects due consideration would need to be given to local needs and regional aspirations. He directed Planning Secretary to see that projects which addressed pressing public needs such as drainage, sewerage, drinking water, easing traffic congestions etc should be prioritized.
Governor reviewed the status of the proposed Chenab Drinking Water Supply Scheme in Jammu and was informed that the project had already beenposed to the Central Government for consideration for funding under JICA assistance. Governor directed that this project should be vigorously pursued for securing very early approval.
