JAMMU: Chief Secretary, Atal Dulloo today took his maiden visit to the project site of Tawi Riverfront Development here during which he inspected the ongoing works and those completed by the executing agency followed-up by a meeting regarding the same at Civil Secretariat here. During this visit he was accompanied by ACS, Jal Shakti Department, Shaleen Kabra; Commissioner Secretary, H&UDD, Mandeep Kaur; Divisional Commissioner, Jammu, Ramesh Kumar; Commissioner, JMC, Rahul Yadav; DC Jammu, Sachin Kumar Vaishya; Chief Engineer, I&FC/UEED besides other concerned officers and officials. The Chief Secretary went around the barrage site near 4th bridge and examined the work done so far. He even inspected the drawings and designs of this project and enquired about the final outlay to be dedicated to public. He called for speeding up the pace of work and delivering the project within the set deadline. He took note of several important decisions to be taken for smooth operation of this Jammu city beautification project. He impressed upon making a concrete plan about the designation of an authority which could look after the entire project including the real estate component of this mega project. He also advised the concerned to have a robust plan for the reclaimed portions of land on left and right banks including the central island so that it adds to the overall ambience of this project. Dulloo further stressed on having a plan for the relocation of the adjoining warehouse in consultation with the stakeholders. He asked for having a close coordination between the Divisional, District administrations and the Jammu Smart City Limited (JSCL) for taking expeditious decisions regarding each issue at hand. The Chief Secretary while having an insight into the component of real estate development for recreational, residential/commercial purposes asked for taking approval for land use plan beforehand so that the ease of doing business is ensured later. He directed for completing these preliminary works in a month’s time and lay full focus on their execution in the months ahead. In the meeting the Chief Secretary was informed by the CEO, JSCL and Chief Engineer, I&FC about the progress on different components of this project. It was given out that the project has been conceived with twin objectives of flood mitigation and creation of recreational spaces. It was said that the project has two broad components including the construction part and real estate development part. For both these components the concerned executing agencies have taken up the services of consultants also. As far as the construction part is concerned it includes developing the promenades, diaphragm walls, retaining walls, laying of anchor slabs, embankment filling and interceptor drains on both left and right banks along with the central island near 4th bridge, as was informed in the meeting. The development of real estate includes creation of recreational, residential, commercial and green spaces on reclaimed land and on the adjoining warehouse. It was said that an embankment of the length of about 7 Kms has to be laid in phase from Gujjar Nagar Bridge to 4th Bridge thus creating an artificial lake from Bhagwati Nagar barrage to Bikram Bridge. In phase 1 the project embankments are being constructed for a length of 2.7 Kms on both sides of the river from Barrage to Bikram Bridge, the meeting was apprised. It was said that the total project cost for phase 1 is Rs 194.47 Cr which consists of Rs 156.38 Cr for raising of embankment, diaphragm wall, filling, interceptor drains, pier protection etc while remaining Rs 38.09 Cr on amenities like landscaping, roads, footpaths, toilet block, food courts, lighting etc. The meeting was further apprised that the overall physical progress of this project is more than 70% slated to be completed by June this year. Moreover it was given out that against the target of 440 panels of Diaphragm wall all stands completed. In addition 7,04,000 m3 embankment filling has been achieved, 3162 m retaining wall, 2188 m anchor slab, 1780 m NP4 pipes has been laid along with 13,310 m3 pier protection works has been completed at an estimated cost of Rs 84.19 Cr. The meeting also discussed the issues like diversion of 12 nallahs on both right and left side of this river. It also deliberated upon the monetising strategy, proposed land use, lease period, authority for real estate development besides other significant issues for operation and management of this project.
