| Decade on, artificial lake in Jammu far from reality, to miss another deadline | | | AB Sharma
Early Times Report
Jammu, Jan 29: In a major setback to the construction of the artificial lake in Jammu, the ambitious project, it’s feared, may lose another deadline.
For over a decade, successive regimes, have failed to construct the much-needed artificial lake on river Tawi, thereby seemingly playing with the sentiments of the Jammuites, who had been longing for the development that can give a major fillip to tourism in the winter capital region.
In 2009, the then Congress led government had announced the construction of the lake which has already missed six deadlines.
Over a decade has passed and the project is yet to see any ray of completion as the work has come to stand still.
Sources said during the on the spot inspection of the languishing project by Lieutenant Governor LG Murmu on January 17, he was apprised about the shocking delay in the project aimed at constructing the lake measuring around 1500 meters in length and 600 meters wide.
Sources said though Murmu stressed on the speedy resumption of the work, the work is unlikely to be completed in 2021, that was supposed to be its new deadline.
“The full project spans over two phases and for the last over a decade even the first phase has not be been completed, only miracles can help the project meets its deadline,” a senior official in the Irrigation and Flood Control Department told Early Times.
Ironically, though the BharatiyaJanta Party had come to power in Jammu and Kashmir in alliance with the Peoples Democratic Party by getting majority of seats from the Jammu region, the right wing party failed to complete the work in Jammu.
“Had they(BJP leaders) stressed for completion of the ambitious project through round the clock monitoring, the work would have been completed by 2018 but the fact remains the work was suspended that very year,” said an official in the IFCD.
Experts said the project can only be completed if the government opts for its regular monitoring. “There’s a need for a fortnightly monitoring of the project because only then it can be completed,” said the official.
When contacted a senior official in the IFCD said the LG Murmu has taken serious note of the prolonged delay and that he wants it competed at an earliest.
The official however remained tight lipped on any new deadline.
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