Dredging from Jhelum, spill channel outsourced

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, February 7

The Irrigation and Flood Control (IFC) Department, Kashmir, has outsourced dredging from the Jhelum and its spill channel to a private company, which is expected to begin the work later this week. The department is aiming to reach a target of dredging eight lakh cubic metres of debris from the river by the end of March.

The department has so far dredged six lakh cubic metres of soil and silt from the river and its spill channel and expects to dredge further before the water level rises again, Mir Javed, Chief Engineer, IFC Department, said.

“We are expecting to complete eight lakh cubic metres of debris till March end. We are selling the dredged material, which is providing us some revenue,” the official said.

He said in the first phase of dredging, under which six lakh cubic metres of silt have been removed so far, the river and its spill channel had been dredged at 40 sites, including at several places in the city.

The IFC Department is currently dredging Khannabal to Halamulla stretch of the river, Sethar to Sempora stretch, Lasjan to Shalteng stretch, Shalteng to Panzinara stretch, Panzinara to Banyari and Pohru to Janbazpora.

Under the second phase, the dredging work has been outsourced to a private firm, which will be tasked to remove 16 lakh cubic metres of silt and was likely to initiate the work later this week, Javed said.

“They have been allotted to remove seven lakh cubic metres in 12 months from Srinagar and nine lakh cubic metres of debris in 20 months from Baramulla and Sopore,” the official said.

The hired company has the equipment to work round the year and its work will not be affected by the depth of water in the river and the spill channel. The department’s dredging process, however, was dependent on the water level in the river as it had limited resources to carry out dredging of the river bed, Javed stated.

The increased siltation in the river bed has been attributed as one the factors which accentuated the flood situation in the region in September 2014, following which experts had been calling for immediate dredging from the river to increase its capacity.

The dredging process, however, was delayed due to non-availability of funds and despite assurances, the money has not been granted till date.

The IFC Department had also prepared a Detailed Project Report (DPR) which included Rs 35 crore for dredging from the river and its spill channel, but the funding – 70 per cent of which was promised by the Central Government - has not been approved so far, officials said.