Nishikant Khajuria
JAMMU, May 30: Notwithstanding the oft repeated assurances of the State Government of providing required funds for completion of pending work, the much delayed Jammu City Sewerage Treatment Project is unlikely to become fully functional in near future.
Despite finishing of hundred percent work on Sewerage Treatment Plants and laying of Main Trunk Line as well as 70 percent Lateral Line three years back, the executing agency is unable to provide house hold connections because of non-availability of funds for carrying out pending work of the mega project, which was started in February 2008 with a deadline for completion in February 2010,
Even as the State Government, during a high level meeting by the Chief Secretary on May 18, is learnt to have okayed the release of around Rs 16 crores under State Fund and Swachh Bharat Mission for carrying out pending work, authoritative sources told the Excelsior that the said amount would not be sufficient for completion of the project.
The executing agency requires Rs 13.6 crores for laying of pending 20 km Lateral Line and Rs 15 crores for providing household connections while it would take at least one and half year for finishing the job if the funds are timely provided,” sources explained.
Even as the State Government has been assuring to provide sufficient funds for completion of the pending work, the state of affairs can be gauged from the fact that not even a penny has been released for the same since March 31, 2014 while minutes of the State Level High Power Committee meeting of Urban Infrastructure & Governance (UIG) Projects of Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM), held on May 18 under the chairmanship of Chief Secretary B B Vyas, are yet to be prepared and released.
Due to constant delay in releasing the funds for finishing the work, much talked about sewerage treatment project for disposal of bath room waste and drainage water for proper sanitation of the city, is still a dream for Jammu city people, who were subjected to unprecedented hardships during the laying of sewer lines.
Funded by Asian Development Bank (ADB) through Jawahar Lal Nehru Urban Renewable Mission (JNURM), this Sewerage Project comprises of 26.53 kms of Trunk Sewer Line and 65.50 kms of Lateral Sewer Line, which are to be connected with house hold connections for disposal of entire sludge, bath room waste etc to maintain proper sanitation of the city. The major components of the Project included 27 MLD Sewerage Treatment Plant at Bhagwati Nagar, Trunk Sewer Line and Lateral Lines.
Started in February 2008 with a deadline for completion in February 2010, the project remained delayed since then because of various technical and other reasons. After October 2014, March 2015 was the third deadline of the project, fixed by the executing agency National Building Construction Corporation Ltd (NBCC).
While congestion of Jammu city and non-implementation of the administrative reforms by the State Government caused earlier delay in executing work and release of funds, respectively, the entire project came to a standing halt after the Central Government completely abandoned its Jawaharlal Nehru Urban Renewable Mission Scheme, under which this Sewerage Project was being funded.
Though the State Government was well aware of the development and assurances were also made to provide funds from other sources for finishing the pending work, there was no progress on the ground in this regard till the recently held meeting, in which the Chief Secretary directed the executing agency to work out timelines for completion of each component so that the projects can be commissioned. The sewerage project for Jammu city was sanctioned Rs 129.23 crores, against which Rs 62.61 crore have been spent so far.
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