Nasir Azam
Srinagar, Jul 26 (KNO): In its latest report, the World Bank has rated implementation progress of the Rs 1500 crore “Jehlum Tawi Flood Recovery (JTFR) Project” funded by it in Jammu & Kashmir as “moderately satisfactory”.
Documents accessed reveal that the multilateral financial institution has rated current implementation progress of the project as “moderately satisfactory”.
“Current implementation progress is rated at moderately satisfactory while the achievement of project development objective (PDO) is rated moderately unsatisfactory as several civil works contracts are still ongoing and, as a result, corresponding results targets will not be achieved by the current closing date,” reads the report.
According to the report, the PDO can also be upgraded to moderately satisfactory with the proposed six-month extension of the closing date.
The WB has stated that the project has significantly improved its performance over last two and half years with remarkable progress in transport, education, urban flood management, livelihood recovery, and disaster preparedness and response capabilities, despite continued challenges and disruptions.
From the beginning, the project has faced complex challenges due to political uncertainty, social unrest, volatile security situation, and frequent changes in leadership and staffing in all implementing agencies (IAs).
“The IAs’ lack of familiarity with Bank financed projects and weak contractor presence, capacity and participation added further delays in implementation. Overall, these cascading challenges led to an effectiveness lag of 11 months and disbursement lag of 28 months (about 2 and a half years) early on,” the report states.
According to the report, 132 (62%) out of total 214 contracts awarded by the J&K authorities under JTFRP are completed as of May 31, 2022.
The Rs 1500 crore project was approved by the WB in 2015 for reconstruction of infrastructure damaged by 2014 floods and strengthening J&K’s disaster management capabilities.
