Guv to review dredging of Jhelum

Running behind the schedule, the Irrigation and Flood Control Department may have to answer some tough questions as Governor NN Vohra is scheduled review the dredging work in the Jhelum during his day-long visit to Kashmir on Tuesday.
It has been 17 months since the devastating floods hit the Valley in 2014, but the authorities concerned are yet to carry out the full-fledged dredging of the river.
Last month, a Kolkata-based firm was roped in by the government to carry out the pending work.
An official acknowledged that so far the work had remained limited to removing soil and sand from the riverbed.
“Against the target of extracting 8,47,700 cubic metre of soil and sand from the river till February 2016, the department has so far extracted only 5,58,820 cubic metre of the material,” said an Irrigation and Flood Control Department official.
Similarly, for the flood channel, only 25,590 cubic metre of material was extracted till last month against a target of 33,000 cubic metre.
“Proper dredging is yet to take off along the entire stretch of the river even as two seasons have passed,” the official added.
The government needs to sublet the de-siltation process to contractors at some places in Anantnag and Baramulla, besides carrying-out the process itself, the official added.