Jammu: The Jammu & Kashmir Government on Thursday informed the Legislative Assembly that annual flood management and protection works on River Tawi are being executed under the UT CAPEX budget and NABARD schemes, while also clarifying that Irrigation & Flood Control (I&FC) sub-division boundaries are determined on technical considerations and not constituency limits.
Replying to a question by legislator Surinder Kumar, Jal Shakti Minister Javed Ahmed Rana said flood protection and river training works on the Tawi are carried out every year as per approved plans, including strengthening of embankments and river training measures.
He said several projects under UT CAPEX are currently in progress, with six works already completed and five ongoing. In addition, river training works from Manwal to the Indo-Pak border are being undertaken under NABARD funding.
The Minister further informed the House that three new projects for restoration and strengthening of embankments have been tendered at an estimated cost of ₹769.96 lakh. These include restoration of the earthen embankment on the left bank of the Tawi at Bikram Chowk and upstream of the Bikram Chowk bridge, construction of damaged flood protection structures on the right bank near Hari Singh Park, and flood protection works to safeguard houses and agricultural land at Chak Malhori, Bajalta. He said the projects have already been tendered as approved.
In response to another question by legislator Kuldeep Raj Dubey, the Minister clarified that the boundaries of I&FC sub-divisions and Assembly constituencies are independent of each other.
He told the House that the jurisdiction of I&FC sub-divisions is determined on technical considerations such as drainage patterns and hydrological requirements. He added that there is no lack of supervision, coordination gap or public inconvenience under the present arrangement.
Rana also stated that there is no proposal to merge the Irrigation & Flood Control Sub-Division Reasi with the Public Health Engineering (PHE) Sub-Division Reasi, saying the existing administrative structure is functioning as per established norms and technical requirements. Legislators Khurshied Ahmed and Sham Lal Sharma raised supplementary queries, which were addressed by the government.