Early Times Report
Jammu, Aug 17: While as the Detailed Project Report (DPR) of the ambitious Tawi riverfront project to be designed on the pattern of the Sabarmati riverfront in Gujarat is yet to take off, another DPR has been prepared by the Jammu Municipal Corporation (JMC) on Monday.
Mayor of JMC, Chander Mohan Gupta along with senior officers on Monday said that DPR to divert 13 nullah following in the river Tawi has been prepared.
But the biggest question is what happened to the earlier DPRs prepared by the government from time to time. Even during PDP-BJP regime it was claimed that a detailed DPR had been prepared and forwarded to the Centre for approval.
The previous PDP-BJP government had declared it a priority project, but there has been no headway. The work started on the artificial lake and barrage, which are the components of the Tawi project, remain incomplete.
Former Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed had announced the shelving of the artificial lake project on May 15, 2015, saying it was not feasible. This gave a severe dent to the project which is a part of the Jammu Smart City plan.
On September 26, 2017, the then Deputy Chief Minister Nirmal Singh, who was holding the portfolio of Housing and Urban Development Department along with plump Power Development Department, had met the then Union Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep Puri and sought his help for the Jammu Smart City and Tawi riverfront projects.
The government had prepared a detailed project report at an estimated cost of Rs 375.732 crore and submitted it to the Ministry of Water Resources.
While the detailed project report remains with the Ministry of Water Resources, no government reminders have gone to it to release the project. |
