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| 4 decades on, Master Plan for augmentation of water supply to greater Jammu awaits completion | | Jammuites left high & dry | | Asif Iqbal Naik
Early Times Report
Jammu, Oct 22: Jammu district is not only home to around 15 lakh souls but also hosts over three lakh people from other districts of the State. The area, however, faces a host of problems, particularly shortage of drinking water, as the Master Plan for augmentation of water supply to greater Jammu awaits completion even after four decades.
The Master Plan drawn in 1976 was supposed to cover a 15-year period till 1991 and was estimated to incur a cost of Rs 14.16 crore for then population of 5.33 lakh souls.
The project was scheduled to be completed in four years, but due to financial constraints and cost escalations it had to be revised thrice. The final revision was made in 1987-'88 and the cost was estimated to be Rs 55.61 crore to meet the requirement of projected population of 7.16 lakh souls in 1991.
At the end of 1992-'93 it was found that the proposed works of the Master Plan phase-I could not be completed within the approved cost of Rs 55.61 crore. Thus the amount for phase-I ending March'93 was again revised with a spillover balance works to the tune of Rs 29.49 crore as on April 1, 1993.
As per official documents, the physical achievement made (ending 3/'1993) under the Master Plan-phase- 1 was two filtrations plants and 36 tube wells with discharge of 306 lakh gallons per day.
An amount of Rs 85.10 crore was spent on construction of filtration plants, tube wells including underground laying of big dia pipe network under Master Plan phase-I started and was put to use. In addition to this, Economic Reconstruction Agency (ERA) has laid/replaced big pipes in Jammu city and infrastructure handed over by ERA to PHE has also been put to use.
But all these efforts have failed to end the water woes of the Jammu people.
On the other hand, the fate of remaining phases of the Master Plan for augmentation and improvement of water supply to greater Jammu is not known to anyone.
According to officials, Jammu district requires special financial assistance of Rs 2000 crore to overcome the water crises as the population of the district, particularly areas around Jammu city, is increasing by the day with the migration of thousands of people from different districts of the State including from Srinagar.
Experts also believe that militancy in rural districts of Jammu region has forced many people to shift to Jammu district which is relatively free from militancy compared to other districts.
The other major problem faced by the people of Jammu is that an outdated distribution system installed some 25 to 30 years ago is contaminating the drinking water being supplied to inhabitants of the city, exposing them to various waterborne diseases. |
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