Govt clears Nurpur flood project, but ‘forgets’ to release funds

Rajiv Mahajan

Nurpur, June 21

A tall oak tree was the house of Tilak Raj in monsoon last year. A nearby eucalyptus tree housed the family of Surender Kumar in Toki village of the Indora constituency in lower Kangra.

No adventure freaks, their houses, along with several others, were out of bounds due to the violently raging flood waters of Chhonchh khud flowing through the area.

Rains are set to be back and so is the fear among villagers. Though the residents had a ray of hope in January 2014 when then Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh had laid the foundation stone of the Rs 179.47-crore Chhonchh khud channelling project, it was soon crushed under the apathy of the Central and state governments as no funds were released for the project in the past two years.

Scheduled to be completed in January this year, the 34-km project was expected to benefit the inhabitants of around 35 villages in 13 gram panchayats. 

The construction was stalled in April 2016 as no funds were earmarked for the project during successive financial years 2016-17, 2017-18 and 2018-19.

Cleared under the Flood Control Programme (70:30 scheme) in 2013, the Central and state governments had to release funds in the ratio of 70 per cent 30 per cent, respectively, for the construction of the project. But, neither the state nor the Central government allocated funds for its construction in the past two years.

Chhonchh khud originates from Dhaneti in Nurpur and joins the Beas in Mirthal, Punjab. Besides causing flood, it renders the agricultural land in Indora infertile. 

Ram Kumar, a local resident, said: “Fields in Malot and Dahkulara have turned almost barren due to constant floods. Rainwater submerges our houses and we suffer heavy loss in terms of property as well as crop every monsoon. There is no help at hand.”

Considering the rising labour and material cost, the Irrigation-cum-Public Health (IPH) Department is yet to prepare a revised detailed report of the project.

Ranjit Chowdhary, executive engineer, IPH division, Indora, said: “In the first phase, channelling work for only 6.5 km had been completed from Dhaneti to Gangath in 2015-16 and Rs 22.70 crore were spent on it. The IPH department had written to the Central Water Commission for allocation of requisite funds to expedite the construction of the project, but nothing has been done so far.”

Local MLA Reeta Dhiman said the project was on her priority list for the development of the area. “I had raised the issue of unprecedented delay in the execution of the project in the Assembly and personally brought it to the notice of CM Jai Ram Thakur. He has assured to restart and expedite its construction. He is expected to visit the area next month,” she added.