Advisor to Governor, Kewal Kumar Sharma today directed proper desilting of canals and disposal of garbage silts in canals in Jammu.The Advisor passed the directions in a meeting convened to review the desilting work of canals in Jammu by Irrigation and Flood Control department here.Secretary, PHE, Farooq Ahmad Shah, Commissioner, JMC, Pankaj Magotra, Chief Engineer, Irrigation besides other senior functionaries and technical officers of the concerned departments attended the meeting.The meeting was informed that there is a total length of 174 km of distributaries and around 28 km length of main canals flows in Jammu city.The Advisor was briefed about the process of desilting and directed the concerned department to prepare well in advance. The concerns of Jammu Municipal Corporation regarding desilting of canals and disposal of garbage silts were also discussed during the meeting.The Advisor directed the officers to ensure proper disposal of garbage silts and removal of dumped garbage from the banks of the canals.
Taking serious note of dumping of garbage into the canals, the Advisor called for spreading public awareness and strict enforcement of law for restricting dumping of garbage in or near the canals.Commissioner, JMC informed the chair that the dumping of garbage into the canals has been reduced in those areas where canals were fenced.The Advisor also welcomed the solutions and recommendations from the concerned officers for diverting drains and making canals clean.He further took stock of the previous work of desilting done by Irrigation and Flood Control department, their previous year expenditure and also enquired about operational water lifting schemes in Jammu District for irrigation purposes besides department’s future course of action.The Advisor asked the department to adopt a visionary approach to resolve the issues pertaining to desilting of canals.