Fresh deadline for completion of Tawi artificial lake project

Jammu, November 11

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Marred by “delays and cancellations” since its start in 2009, the Jammu and Kashmir administration has set a fresh deadline of 2023 to complete the multi-crore artificial Tawi lake project in Jammu.

However, the deadline for the completion of artificial pondage (lake) in the Tawi river has been set for April next year.

After missing the first target date in 2012, the contractor missed five other deadlines in 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018, when the contractor stopped work, prompting authorities to cancel its project and order a probe.

Stating that the project has the potential to give a major facelift to Jammu city, Chief Secretary Arun Kumar Mehta directed the department to speed up the execution of the project, so that the artificial pondage in the river is created by April next year.

This was stated by the Chief Secretary at a meeting to review the progress of a project related to the Tawi riverfront development in Jammu, UT officials said.

Giving details of the project, officials said under Phase-I of the project, the first 2.7-kilometre stretch from the Bhagwatinagar bridge to the Bikram Chowk bridge, including the central island and riverfronts on both sides of the Tawi, would be developed, while the 4.3-kilometre stretch beyond the Bikram Chowk bridge would be taken up under Phase-II later.

Laying down the timeline for completion of various activities under the project, the Chief Secretary directed the department to complete the process of allotment of contract by December and finish the construction of promenades, including the planned commercial and recreational assets on the riverfront, within one to one and a half years. — PTI