Minister for PHE, Irrigation and Flood Control, Ch. Sham Lal informed the House that as part of flood prevention measure around 10.90 lakh cusec mtr de-silting has been done in Jhelum between Srinagar- Baramulla till Dec 2017. “To augment the dredging activities after the 2014 floods the department of Irrigation and Flood Control outsourced dredging work in Baramulla and Srinagar to M/s Reach Dredging Ltd, Kolkata, who have dredged out a quantity of 5.06 lakh cusec mtr and 5.084 lakh cusec mtr respectively in these reaches till December 2017. He said that desilting/dredging work in outfall channel in Sopore and Baramulla is continuously going on since 2012 and till date 5.40 lakh cum has been dredged.Replying to a question by Mr. Mohammad Ashraf Mir, the Minister said that for desilting of water bodies in the Valley, the Irrigation and Flood Control Department in collaboration with Department of Disaster Management, Relief, Rehabilitation and Reconstruction of J&K State has floated the Expression of Interest for consultancy services for conducting surveys, studies, formulation of comprehensive Flood Management Plan (FM Plan) and preparation of DPR for flood management works of river Jhelum and its tributaries funded by World Bank.
Ch. Sham Lal said that under J&K Wildlife (Protection) Act 1978 Forest, Environment and Ecology Department also carries out desilting of various water bodies on regular basis. The Wildlife Protection Department is managing 20 notified wetlands/water bodies. He further informed that Wullar Conservation and Management Authority (WUCMA) has also desilted Wullar Lake to increase its water holding capacity.“So far 1.5 sq. kms of the Wullar Lake has been dredged of the 27 sq. Kms of the critically silted area. In addition, J&K Lakes and Waterways Development Authority is looking after the conservation/management of Dal Nageen as per the DPR approved by Union Government for an amount of Rs.298.76 crore which also includes dredging and desilting of shore-line of the Dal Nageen Lake,” he mentioned.Meanwhile replying to a question by Mr. Yawar Ahmad Mir, the Minister informed that PHE Department has formulated a Detailed Project Report (DPR) at an estimated cost of Rs.12.23 for WSS Darina falling in Rafiabad constituency and is under examination for sponsoring under NABARD loan assistance.