Minister for PHE, Irrigation and Flood Control Sham Lal Choudhary said that to provide best possible clean drinking water and irrigational facilities to the people besides to ensure effective flood control measures is among the top priorities of the government and several concrete measures are being taken in this regard.The Minister stated this while chairing a meeting today to review the pace of progress on various ongoing projects in PHE, Irrigation and Flood Control sectors in district Kargil.Chairman Legislative Council Haji Anayat Ali, Chairman/Chief Executive Councilor Kargil Kacho Ahmad Ali Khan, Executive Councilor FCS & CA Tenzin Sonam, Executive Councilor Education and Power Advocate Muhammad Amir, Executive Councilor for RD Aga Syed Hassan Armaan Mosavi, Executive Councilor for Agriculture Muhammad Hussain, Deputy Commissioner Kargil Haji Gulzar Hussain, Superintending Engineer PWD Kargil J K Sharma, Executive Engineers, AEEs, AEs, JEs besides officers of the district administration were present in the meeting.A detailed presentation about the functioning of department and ongoing projects in the sector was made during the meeting.Giving details of the ongoing schemes under NRDWP in PHE sector, it was informed that a total of 37 schemes at an estimated cost of Rs 7141.47 lakh have been sanctioned out of which 18 have been completed, under AMRUT, 4 projects have been sanctioned for Kargil town and all are under progress.
While discussing Irrigation sector, the meeting was apprised that under under NABARD, 4 irrigation projects were sanctioned at an estimated cost of Rs 1489.28 lakh out of which 2 have stands completed and work on the remaining 2 are in full swing, under Flood Management Programme (FMP), 2 schemes were sanctioned at an estimated cost of Rs 2724.00 lakh against which an expenditure of Rs 1588.45 lakh have been incurred. On completion of these schemes, 1365 hactare of irrigated area shall be protected. Under Minor Irrigation Sector (AIBP), 5 schemes are being executed at an estimated cost of Rs 2713.24 lakh and on completion of said schemes, a total irrigation potential of 1817.17 hactare shall be created.The Minister stressed the need for improving the monitoring mechanism for timely completion of various ongoing schemes in the district and said that priority of department should be benefiting the people with all the projects in time. He directed the concerned to submit the new projects immediately so that the funds can be arranged accordingly besides submitting the details of the projects which needs additional funding to get completed.Meanwhile, the Councilors also raised various issues pertaining to the developmental projects under PHE, I&FC sector in the area and requested the Minister to provide special funding for maintenance and repair of irrigation canals and water supply schemes damaged during winter season as well as to meet the liabilities accumulated over several projects.
Responding to the demands, the Minister announced increase of funds to repair the damaged schemes and irrigational canals being damaged due to heavy snowfall, floods and avalanches. He called upon the representatives of the Hill Council and concerned officers to submit the liability details so that possibilities could be explored for provision of funds.Chairman, Legislative Council Haji Anayat Ali and CEC Kacho Ahmad Ali Khan thanked the Minister for visiting the district and urged upon him to extend proactive support to accelerate pace of development under the sector in the area so that the people living in the mountainous region can be benefitted in the best possible manner.Addressing the meeting, the Minister directed the officers to do their best in improving the work culture at the grassroots level so as to provide satisfactory services to the people. He directed the engineers to take all possible steps to improve the efficiency of the schemes so that they serve their purpose in the best possible manner. He also emphasized upon on the need for proper upkeep and repair of PHE installations so as to avoid inconvenience to the people.
The Minister also sought details from the concerned officers about the bio metric seeding of the casual, need based and contractual workers engaged in the department. He informed the meeting that government is committed for the welfare of these employees and soon the government will come up with a policy in this regard.
Sham Choudhary instructed the officers for conducting regular surprise inspections of pumping stations and other departmental utilities for their effective monitoring and functioning. He also asked for time bound repair of damaged and dysfunctional machinery besides keeping ready the standby machinery.The Minister while exhorting upon the officers to work with added zeal and enthusiasm called upon them to take prompt action on all complaints received from the people so as to ensure their speedy disposal. He said that strong action will be taken against the non performers and output should be visible and recognized by the people on the ground.Earlier, en-route to Kargil, the Minister interacted with several public delegations at Drass who apprised him about their issues and demands including water, power supply and other local issues. The Minister after giving patient hearing to the people, directed concerned officers to prepare proposals under BADP so as to augment water supply system in the area especially during winter season. He also announced 10 hand pumps for the people of the area and asked the officers to initiate the installation after consulting local MLA and Village Committees to provide immediate relief to the locals.Sham Choudhary also asked Deputy Commissioner Kargil to look into the local issues and try to resolve them in due course of time.Meanwhile, the local people welcomed the Minister and appreciated him for personally visiting the area to take first hand appraisal of their issues and grievances.