SRINAGAR: Secretary, Planning, Development and Monitoring Department, Dr Owais Ahmad, on Monday directed the Jammu and Kashmir Economic Reconstruction Agency (JKERA) to prepare a sustainable, Union Territory-wide roadmap with a pipeline of innovative, fund-ready projects and explore additional funding through Central schemes and other agencies.
Ahmad issued the directions while chairing a meeting to review the functioning of JKERA, the nodal agency for implementing externally aided projects in Jammu and Kashmir.
Chief Executive Officer JKERA Akriti Sagar informed the meeting that the agency, established in 2004, had implemented three major externally aided projects: the Multisector Project for Infrastructure Rehabilitation in Jammu and Kashmir (MPIR) and the Jammu and Kashmir Urban Sector Development Investment Programme (JKUSDIP), both funded by the Asian Development Bank, and the World Bank-funded Jhelum Tawi Flood Recovery Project (JTFRP).
The agency’s interventions have covered infrastructure in health, education, livelihoods and disaster management, besides urban transport, drainage, rural roads and bridges. Its projects have also included flyovers, grade separators, educational and healthcare buildings, livelihood initiatives, water metering and capacity-building programmes for urban local bodies.
Sagar said JKERA had introduced technologies and construction practices such as seismic-resistant structures, rigid concrete pavements, green buildings, arch bridges, trenchless drainage systems and restoration techniques using devar stone and dhajji-dewari designs. Other interventions included BaLA-designed schools, gaseous chlorination systems and pneumatic tube systems.
Under JTFRP, the agency has completed 225 sub-projects covering roads, bridges, healthcare and educational infrastructure, she said. The projects also included oxygen plants in remote areas, medical equipment, ambulances, modern fire tenders and rescue equipment.
The agency has additionally developed information technology systems for disaster management, including decision support systems (DSS), an Integrated Operations and Fire Services system (IOFS) and a disaster risk database. Flood mitigation studies for the Jhelum and Tawi river basins were also undertaken under the project.
Ahmad called for an end-to-end approach to project formulation, with an emphasis on sustainability and advance preparation to ensure projects are ready for funding and implementation.
The meeting was attended by the directors of JKERA for Kashmir and Jammu, the chief accounts officer, additional secretary (legal), the agency’s collector and a law officer from the Planning, Development and Monitoring Department.