Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Jan 18: Announced one and half years back that too in the District Development Board meeting, Mango Village in Kathua district has remained on papers because of the failure of the Agriculture Department to come up with comprehensive Detailed Project Report (DPR).
In the District Development Board meeting held on June 20, 2015, it was announced that Mango Village will be set up in Kathua on the pattern of Apple and Apricot Villages in Kashmir to boost horticulture in Kathua district.
Following this decision, a Detailed Project Report for an amount of Rs 351 lakh was prepared but the senior officers of the Agriculture Department noticed some shortcomings in the same and accordingly directions were issued for revision of the DPR, which is still under process.
Though the Minister Incharge Agriculture admitted this in the Legislative Assembly in response to the question of BJP MLA from Kathua, Rajiv Jasrotia yet he failed to specify time-frame for completion of DPR revision exercise, which otherwise is imperative to ensure start of work on ground for Mango Village.
About steps taken for popularization of rainwater harvesting and to identify land for tank reservoirs, the Minister said that farmers are being educated about the benefits of rain water harvesting through trainings and awareness camps. “A rooftop water harvesting model has been constructed on demonstration-cum-training centre at Rakh, Dhiansar for the farming community to get first-hand knowledge”, the Minister informed the House.
He said that the land for tank reservoirs is to be identified by the district authorities in consultation with the field functionaries of the extension agency as well as the farming community of the area. However, under Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana (PMKSY), the District Level Implementing Commi-ttees headed by the District Development Commissioners have been constituted to identify land for construction of tank reservoirs.
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