Over Rs 400 crore project sanctioned for flood relief in Kashmir

Srinagar: The Centre has approved over Rs 400 crore worth project for urgent flood management works in Kashmir which was hit by floods in 2014, a visiting Parliamentary panel was told on Srinagar on Tuesday.

The 31-member Parliamentary Standing Committee on Water Resources was told that the government is working on both short and long term strategies to avert future floods in the Valley.

The House panel is visiting Kashmir on the initiative of PDP MP Tariq Hameed Karra, who is also a member of the Committee.

Briefing the members of the panel during their visit to various flood-affected areas of the Valley, the officers of the Irrigation and Flood Control Department said various flood-protection measures have been taken in the wake of the devastating deluge of September 2014 which caused huge damage to the life and the property in Kashmir.

The officers said that project worth Rs 400 crore has been approved under flood management programme for River Jhelum (Phase-I) to take up urgent works. In the long term, the Irrigation and Flood Control Department has proposed construction of an alternate Flood Spill Channel from Dogripora in Pulwama district of south Kashmir up to Wullar Lake costing Rs 2083 crore.

The Phase-I of flood management programme, according to the officials, mainly involves works aimed at increasing the carrying capacity of Jhelum river from the existing 28,000 cusecs to at least 50,000 cusecs.

They said the project includes dredging, deepening and widening of Jhelum river, removal of bottlenecks and encroachments, construction and strengthening of protection bund and re-sectioning of the existing flood spill channels.

The Parliamentary panel members during their visit took on-the-spot review of the flood damages at Wangipora (Sumbal), Bemina, Shariefabad, Padshahi Bagh, Kursoo, Rajbagh, Shivpora and other areas.

They also visited the spots of breaches, cuts and damages along River Jhelum bund at various places.

The panel members were informed that during 2014’s floods, Jhelum river breached at several places in Srinagar submerging large parts of the city and causing massive damage to properties, crops and livestock besides claiming several human lives.