Farooq Khan reviews Tawi Barrage, River front view projects

Jammu, Oct 28: Advisor to Lieutenant Governor, Farooq Khan, Thursday asked the concerned officers to expedite pace of progress on Tawi Barrage Project and ‘Tawi River Front Development Project’ for completion within fixed timelines.
Advisor issued these directions while chairing a meeting convened to review progress on these prestigious twin projects.
The meeting was attended by Divisional Commissioner Jammu, Dr Raghav Langer; Project consultant JSCL besides Engineers of Irrigation and Flood Control, ERA and other concerned officers.
Advisor enquired about the reasons for delay in execution of these projects asking the concerned for sorting out the issues hampering the progress on these vital works.
Pertinently, Jammu and Kashmir administration has now approved the revised project for construction of remaining works of Tawi barrage, popularly known as Artificial Lake, with an estimated cost of Rs 73.34 crore.
The proposed gated barrage on Tawi is one of the prestigious artificial lake project that was conceptualized to give a boost to regional tourism in Jammu by creating recreational activities like boating and water sports besides enhancing overall aesthetic look of the city.
On completion, the project will promote water recreation and sporting facilities besides boosting commercial activities around the artificial lake which in turn create employment opportunities for locals and attract tourists to Jammu city.
During the meeting, it was informed that the Irrigation and flood control department is in process of inviting tenders for taking up pending works.
Advisor was informed that NITs will be published within days. It was further informed that the civil and mechanical work would be executed simultaneously to complete the project within fixed timelines.
Farooq Khan directed the I&FC department to invite the tenders at the earliest and execute the works to complete the project in 10 months time.
Meanwhile, the Advisor also reviewed in detail the Tawi River Front Development project which is to be executed under Jammu Smart City.
The project consultants gave a detailed presentation informing that the Jammu Smart City Limited has prepared a Detailed Project Report to develop Tawi River front to give an aesthetic look to the River Tawi and to promote it as a major tourism attraction.
The 7 KM long river front has been proposed to be completed in 2 phases. The first phase will start from 4th bridge to Main Tawi Bridge and phase 2 from Main Tawi Bridge to Gujjar Nagar Bridge. It was informed that pathways would be constructed on both the sides (banks) of the river to provide easy access to the public.
It was informed that Initially 2.7 km from Bhagwati Nagar Barrage to Vikram Chowk Bridge will be taken up under the phase I.
Besides, the meeting had threadbare discussion on various important issues like construction of embankments/retaining walls, pier protection, raising heights of barrage and other components of the project.