Early Times REport
Jammu, May 18 \Expressing happiness on the approval of Modified Detailed Project Report to Ujh Multipurpose Project by the Central Committee, Union Minister of State in PMO Jitendra Singh on Monday said the dream project will now benefit people of Jammu and Kashmir (particularly of Kathua belt) more than neighbouring Pakistan.
‘The three-decade-old Kathua’s Ujh River Multipurpose Project has finally been cleared by the Jal Shakti Ministry of the Central government,’ Dr Singh, who is also MP from Kathua-Udhampur-Doda Parliamentary Constituency here told .
The project was declared a national project way back in 2008, which means all the expenses will be borne by the Centre, estimated to remain around Rs 9,167 crore.
‘When the previous DPRs were submitted, we realised that our consumption of water was just about 35 to 40 per cent and rest of the water was going to Pakistan, which would have been great violation of Indus Water Treaty (IWT), sharing away our own water with Pakistan,’ said the Union Minister.
‘The previous J&K Governments and the Machinery in the Central Government kept blaming each other of delaying the project but in 2014, when Nitin Gadkari took over the Water Resources Ministry, the matter was taken up with him immediately,’ the Union MoS said.
Though an aggressive exercise was done to get it approved, but it hanged on due to the Model Code of Conduct coming into force, in view of 2019 Parliamentary elections, he added.
‘Recently, an agency was hired and a fresh DPR was prepared,’ Dr Singh said, adding that the Ujh Multi Purpose Project was set to change now because the water (60 to 70 per cent) was going as waste and run-off to Pakistan.
‘After hectic parleys, it was decided that the project needed to be scaled up substantially,’ he said and added that besides involvement of political leadership, new DPRs were prepared in Jammu and PHE Commissioner/Secretary Ajeet Sahu was involved all through in the exercise.
|
