| Despite spending crores, many Irrigation schemes incomplete in Jammu | | Improper Planning, Execution? | | Early Times Report
Jammu, June 20: Alleged improper planning and poor execution by the Irrigation Department has left many Lift Irrigation Schemes (LIS) in Jammu Division incomplete.
Sources in the department told Early Times that despite spending crores, around half a dozen Lift Irrigation Schemes haven’t seen the light of the day due to alleged lackadaisical attitude of the department.
Although all irrigation related schemes are fully funded by the Central Government under Accelerated Irrigation Benefits Programme (AIBP) yet many schemes have remained incomplete in J&K mostly due to “poor planning” before executing the project. Hurdles like land issues, non-availability of source etc. have also led to the delay.
Sources informed that the schemes like LIS Lalyal, LIS Saidgarh, LIS Sohanjana, LIS Kothey Saini, LIS Jathana and LIS Gurah Pattan, which were started years ago and were slated to be completed within few years of commencement are still incomplete due to dispute over land, link alignment, insufficient water source, non-completion of civil works, non-procurement/ installation of machinery.
“Due to non-completion of these LISs, the targeted area of over 2000 acres of land, which was to be benefited with irrigation facilities, failed to fulfill the desired purpose,” they said further adding although Government of India issued many directives to the State to take all necessary steps to complete all the ongoing lift irrigation schemes in a time bound manner but yet many schemes proved to be non-starters, which shows the apathetic attitude of the department,” sources added.
“No action was taken by the department to complete LIS Lalyal, Saidgarh and Kothey Saini and make them functional even after spending Rs 2 crores on their execution against the estimated cost of Rs 3.5 crores,” they said. |
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