Chief Secretary, B B Vyas today convened a meeting with the visiting World Bank ISR Mission to review the progress on the World Bank funded Jhelum and Tawi Flood Recovery Project (JTFRP), here today.The meeting was attended by Principal Secretary I&C Shailendra Kumar, Commissioner Secretary R&B Sanjeev Verma, Task Team Leader World Bank Deepak Singh, CEO JTFRP Vinod Sharma, Commissioner SMC, officers from other concerned department and agencies besides members of World Bank ISR mission.Chief Secretary, who is also the Chairman of Steering Committee JTFRP, reviewed the status of works to be executed under the said project by various departments and agencies. The meeting held deliberations on all important issues pertaining to the project.The meeting discussed the works including construction of roads, bridges, up gradation of infrastructure of government schools, creation of additional health infra and others. CS directed all concerned to prioritize the works under JTFRP and expedite them for their timely completion. He directed for establishing Emergency Operation Centres (EOCs) one each in Jammu and Srinagar. He asked for setting up EOCs with basic infrastructure at initial stage so that they may be made functional to act in emergency situations.The representatives of various departments also apprised the meeting about the present status of ongoing works.
Chief Secretary directed the officers for removing bottlenecks, if any, to expedite the works and to strictly follow the guidelines while executing the works.Deepak Singh, Task Team Leader, World Bank gave a presentation of works to be executed under various components of this prestigious project and urged for resolving the issues hindering its progress.B B Vyas asked CEO, JTFRP Vinod Sharma to resolve all the issues raised in the meeting and ensure better coordination between all agencies for timely completion of project.The meeting was informed that procurement of necessary equipment and communication gadgets is underway and is expected to be completed very soon. It was further informed that process of buying boats is underway and a good number of boats have been received by SDRF. Other necessary equipment required are also being procured in a phased manner.CS also asked to hire 3 social and environmental experts as required for the completion of the project.Chief Secretary, while directing the concerned officers for close monitoring of the works, asked them to ensure clearing of all related formalities including preparation of DPRs, tendering process and others in a speedy manner for effective implementation of the project. He said this prestigious project needs to be completed at the earliest so that the people of the state would be benefitted and a strong mechanism would be put in place to respond during emergency situations.