Ravi-Tawi project awaits SC approval

Ravi Krishnan Khajuria

Tribune News Service

Jammu, May 13

The work on the Rs 410 crore-Ravi-Tawi canal project, a 9-km channel upstream Basantpur village up to the inflow of the Ranjit Sagar dam in Kathua district, may not begin this year as it awaits Supreme Court clearance.

Given the ‘bottlenecks’, the actual work is likely to begin next year, but once completed, the canal will irrigate 1.33 lakh acres of agricultural land, which in turn will make Jammu a surplus region in food grain production.

KK Gupta, chief engineer of the Ravi Tawi Irrigation Complex, said the actual work hasn’t started yet as clearance was awaited from the Supreme Court via the Wildlife Department.

Last year in January, the Wildlife Department had raised objections to the canal on the grounds that 90 per cent of it falls under the Thein wildlife sanctuary and goes against the Wildlife Preservation Act.

“The Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) study is on and since such project must adhere to the Supreme Court guidelines, we await a clearance from the Wildlife Department,” he said.

“We expect to get the clearance in December. Thereafter, the actual work would be taken up after following the due process,” he added.

On completion, the channel will increase agriculture production by Rs 250 crore every year, besides generating 25 MW from a hydro project at the site.

While Rs 275.14 crore out of the total cost of Rs 410 crore will be spent on civil works, remaining funds will be utilised for two power houses on the canal.

An official source, however, regretted the lackadaisical response of the Punjab Government that backtracked from its promise of constructing Shahpur Kandi barrage.

“The Ravi Tawi Canal Project was approved by the Planning Commission of India in May, 1973, with an estimated cost of Rs 29.84 crore but it hit several roadblocks because of the differences between the Punjab and J&K Governments over sharing of the Ravi river water. As a result, the cost of the project kept escalating,” he said.

Under the Interstate Agreement of 1955, Punjab had to provide 20 per cent of electricity and 1,100 cusecs of water from the Ranjit Sagar Dam (over Ravi) to Jammu and Kashmir. For this, we kept demanding a compensation of Rs 8,500 crore from Punjab for the losses, he added.

It may be recalled here that J&K and Punjab executed a bilateral agreement on January 20, 1979, wherein J&K agreed upon starting the Main Ravi canal from the proposed Shahpur Kandi barrage to be constructed by the Punjab Government, 12-km downstream of Ranjit Sagar Dam along the Ravi.

Punjab never constructed the barrage and then it also scrapped the agreement through a legislation of 2004.