Chief Secretary, Dr Arun Kumar Mehta today chaired the 5th Project Steering Committee (PSC) meeting of the World Bank funded Jhelum & Tawi Flood Recovery Project (JTFRP) implemented by J&K Economic Reconstruction Agency (ERA) here.

Besides the Secretary Tourism & CEO, ERA the meeting was attended by Principal Secretary, H&UDD; Commissioner Secretary, Industries and Commerce; DG, Planning; and other concerned officers.

Jammu based officers participated in the meeting through video conferencing

During this meeting the Chief Secretary reviewed the pace of the ongoing projects. He stressed on further enhancing it for projects near completion so that these are dedicated to public before the onset of winter season. He further instructed for completing the infrastructure projects in all respects so that people do not face any kind of inconvenience in their utilization.

Regarding the unutilized funds lend by the World Bank to JTFRP the Chief Secretary directed for looking into the ways and means for securing extension of the Project by one year. He made out that the projects completed under it have proved lot more beneficial for the people and the funds can be used to bring more improvement in critical infrastructure and livelihood opportunities for people.

Dr Mehta took note of the delay caused in 2019 & 2020 due to unforeseen Covid-19 situation. He asked for making best use of the time available with them. He also advised them to prioritize the projects that can be implemented in a short span of time.

The Chief Secretary reviewed the detailed Progress of the Project and directed that all the sub-projects under execution through JKPCC shall be taken over by the Public Word (R&B) department on priority basis.

The Chief Secretary asked the Public Works Department to take-up the incomplete infrastructure projects for completing them within the deadline. He also directed the respective line departments to take over all the completed sub-projects under JTFRP within a weeks time.

He asked for bringing in innovation and further augment the productivity of the projects poised to create livelihoods for people. He called for examining the projects completed till date so that their functionality is ascertained afresh especially that of the Storm Water Drainage projects around Srinagar city.

In this meeting the Chief Secretary reviewed the budget and audit of the agency. He directed the CEO to rework the cost of the AMC of the projects beyond the Project Completion period. He also gave directives for increasing the efficiency of projects besides broadening their scope for encompassing people from other walks of life.

In his presentation , the CEO, ERA, Dr Syed Abid Rasheed Shah highlighted the performance of the agency made from 2019. He gave out that out of 213 works, 174 stands completed and 39 are at the advanced stages of completion during this period. He further informed that contracts worth Rs 1763 Cr stands awarded against which a cumulative expenditure to the tune of Rs 1320 Cr has been incurred till October this year.

It was revealed that the JTFRP was focused on recovery and mitigating risks linked to occurrence of floods here and it has largely achieved this goal. It was given out that the restored and improved public buildings have served 2,185,798 people, way above the target of 1,000,000.

Moreover the infrastructure works completed under JTFRP includes 52 Schools, 4 higher education buildings, one fire station, 80 km of roads, 4 bridges, 75 km drainage network and 33 stormwater drainage pumping stations.

It was added that critical medical equipment and supplies to 36 hospitals, augmenting 100- Helpline with 68 critical care ambulances, commissioning of 30 oxygen generation plants covering all districts of Jammu and Kashmir was also achieved under this project.

With respect to livelihoods augmentation it was said that market access for 600 families associated with cocoon rearing, enhanced cocoon procurement capacity and production capacity has already been created. In addition to these interventions similar developments were made in wool, handloom and handicraft sectors of the UT, as was given out in the meeting.

Work on the construction of the State of Art 120 bedded hospital building at Bone and Joints Hospital at Barzulla, Srinagar is in full swing with appreciable progress achieved on the the sub-project. The Valleys Largest Orthopaedic hospital at Barzulla, Srinagar is all set to get a big infrastructural push with the construction of state of art additional 120 bedded hospital block being constructed under the component of Strengthening of the Critical Infrastructure of the World Bank funded JTFRP (Jhelum Tawi Flood Recovery Project).

The state of Art building has G+5 structure with modern earthquake resilient technology, the hospital building has the modular operation theatres ,laminar flow system, TSSU (Theatre Sterile Supply Unit), ICU, Pre & Post Operation care wards , CSSD (Central Sterile Supply Department) , specialized laundry, pneumatic tube system and waste collection system . The main features of the hospital building include IGBC (India Green Building Council) rating , biomedical waste management .The bio-medical system designed will cater to the bio-medical generation of 140 kgs/day which will be disposed off on the scientific lines since it also has the provision for the construction of STP/ETP (Sewerage Treatment Plant & Effluent Treatment Plant) as part of the sub-project. He said work on the sub-project has been allotted to NPCC (National Projects Construction Corporation) at a cost Rs 88.94 crores.

In the construction of the building various modern concepts in the health care infrastructure including environmental designs, patient wellbeing, macro/micro level zoning, scope for futuristic development and optimal area utilization have also been taken into account. The design of the hospital has been finalised after several rounds of consultations with the leading National health infrastructure experts, health dept and hospital administration and their inputs have been incorporated into the final design.

Work on the main super structure is almost complete with finishing works in progress which include installation of HVAC (Heating ventilation & air conditioning ), firefighting and other equipments. The sub-project also includes the installation of latest medical equipments which would be crucial to providing of world class orthopaedic medical treatment to the thousands of patients that visit the valleys only dedicated orthopaedic centre of medical excellence in J&K that will also provide the medical students in achieving the specialized professional training in the field of orthopaedic care.

The employees of Jammu & Kashmir Economic Reconstruction Agency have expressed heartfelt condolences and grief over the death of Mr. Syed Abdul Rasheed Shah, Father of Dr. Syed Abid Rasheed Shah (IAS) Secretary to Government, Department of Tourism/Culture and Chief Executive Officer, J&K Economic Reconstruction Agency, Government of Jammu and Kashmir.

An emergency condolence meeting was held today simultaneously at JKERA office, Rambagh aswell as J&KERA Office, Jammu in which employees of J&KERA expressed grief over the sad demise and extended heartfelt condolences to Dr. Syed Abid Rasheed Shah (IAS) and his family and prayed for solace to the departed soul and expressed deepest sympathies and prayed that may Allah grant the family patience and forbearance to endure this irreparable loss.

Meeting also prayed that may Allah grant departed soul with highest place in Jannah .Meeting was attended by all the cadres of ERA employees.

Chief Executive Officer, Jammu and Kashmir Economic Reconstruction Agency (ERA), Jhelum Tawi Flood Recovery Project (JTFRP), Dr Syed Abid Rasheed Shah, today inspected progress on construction of 120-bedded Specialized Orthopaedic Unit (additional hospital block) at Bone and Joint Hospital, Barzulla

The CEO was accompanied by a World Bank team led by Lead Disaster Risk Management Specialist at the World Bank, Deepak Singh and officers of JKERA, JTFRP, Chief Engineer Department of Roads and Buildings (R&B) among others.

During the inspection, CEO directed the concerned agency to speed up work and ensure that the project gets completed at the earliest. He along with experts from World Bank inspected all the stories of the building and directed the concerned agency to speed up execution on the remaining works.

Notably, the prestigious project has been taken up under the component “Critical Infrastructure” of JTFRP funded by the World Bank.

Inspecting the ongoing works, Dr Abid directed the concerned officers and the agency to work in close coordination with focus on maintaining project's quality parameters, ensuring timely completion.

During the inspection, the team also analysed the technical specifications of the building. Earlier, the executing agency had been directed to initiate the process of procuring necessary medical infrastructure for the hospital which is part of the composite tender given to NPCC Limited.

Pertinently, JTFRP, which is part of PM’s development package, has received a major fillip in implementation in the last one year which has been recognized in various tripartite review meetings between the World Bank, the Department of Economic Affairs and the government of J&K

Buildings beautifully embellished with the bright coloured board games on the floor, protractors, playful railings, national & local maps painted on outer walls, black board on outer side of the school building, mathematics tables, place value and height value charts on the walls. This is how the newly constructed BaLA (Building as a learning Aid) schools buildings constructed under the World Bank funded JTFRP (Jhelum Tawi Flood Recovery Project) look like.

Built under the World Bank funded JTFRP (Jhelum Tawi Flood Recovery Project) work on more than 50 school buildings across the J&K had been taken up with the cumulative cost of Rs 44.79 cr. Most of the school buildings have been constructed in the various remote areas of J&K, where school buildings had been badly damaged during the floods of 2014.

Instead of adopting the conventional design in the building construction, a creative and fun-loving way of the design is being used in BaLA designed schools with the use of attractive and colourful patterns in order to build an captivating atmosphere for the children that would act as a catalyst for the child-friendly learning process at school as the little kids often find the traditional school buildings monotonous which are dominated by the black boards, grey painted doors/ windows and white washed walls.

“ The school buildings constructed using BaLA design under World Bank funded Jhelum Tawi Flood Recovery Project provide a very creative environment for children and has provided us means to adopt play way method of teaching which children find attractive and it is also helped in controlling the drop out of children” said Harjeet Singh , Teacher at Balicharana Govt Primary School,

Jhelum Tawi Flood Recovery Project had taken up the work for construction of 51 Govt. primary school buildings across the Jammu & Kashmir using the BaLa (Building as a learning aid) design.
br>The introduction of the BaLA design in the construction of Govt. school buildings is viewed as a very positive development by parents. “BaLA designed school buildings present a very impressive look which are more elegantly designed than the buildings of most of the renowned private schools” says Muhammad Ashraf a parent of 8 year old child

BaLA (Building as a Learning Aid) design of the school buildings introduced under the World Bank funded JTFRP (Jhelum Tawi Flood Recovery Project) is an innovative designing of the school buildings with an objective of turning the school building into a very potent teaching aid for the school children.

5-member technical team of World Bank led by Shri Deepak Singh, Sr. Disaster Risk Management specialist and comprising of Ms. Neha Vyas, Sr. Environmental Specialist, Ms. Harjot Kaur, Sr, Social Safeguard, Specialist, Peeyush Sekhsaria, Disaster Risk Management Specialist and Mr Manzoor Khan, Operations Specialist visited valley from 9th to 11th November to review the progress on World Bank funded Jhelum Tawi Flood Recovery Project being executed by J&K Economic Reconstruction Agency.

Dr. Syed Abid Rasheed Shah, (IAS) Chief Executive Officer, JKERA had a detailed meeting with the team regarding the progress of the World Bank funded Jhelum Tawi Flood Recovery Project. Dr. Abid said that project during the last 2 years has shown a remarkable progress with more than 144 sub-projects completed out of the total of 213 sub-projects under different components of JTFRP. He added that Construction & Installation of (30) Manifold Oxygen Plants in various remote areas of J&K as well as procurement of various specialized critical health care equipments and ALS (All Life Support) Ambulances for the hospitals across the J&K at an approximate cost of Rs 290 Cr has proved to be crucial in strengthening of Health care system in the UT. Similarly he said the introduction of BaLA design in the construction of school buildings, use of innovative road construction techniques like Rigid Concrete Pavement, use of Arched, designs in the construction of bridges etc. are some of the highlights of the Project.

The World Bank team expressed the hope that innovative features introduced under the project - BaLA (Building as a Learning Aid) design in the construction of school buildings, development of campus management for the higher education buildings, Green building concept will be mainstreamed.

During the 3-day visit the team visited the various works being executed by J&KERA under World Bank funded JTFRP across the valley which included the construction of Rs 7.19 Cr Science block at Amar Singh Degree College, Srinagar and Rs 13.34 Cr. Additional block at Women’s Degree College, MA road Srinagar. Team was informed that work on the construction of 4-storeyed Additional Block at Govt. Womens Degree College, M.A road having a plinth area of 560 sqmtrs has been completed. The construction of additional block in the college would enable the enrolment of additional female students in the college which is now part of the cluster university.

During visit to Amar Singh Degree College, Srinagar it was informed that the new 5-storeyed building having a plinth area of 650 sqmtrs. includes space for Chemistry laboratories, Botany and Zoology museums and labs and has provided the State of Art, infrastructural facilities for science education in one of the reputed colleges in Srinagar which is now a part of Cluster university.

During visit to the Anantnag District , World Bank team visited Rs 2.28 Cr. additional block at Womens Degree College, Anantnag as also Rs 9.21 Cr. additional block at Beijbehara, both constructed under the World Bank funded, JTFRP. Work on construction of Additional block at Women,s Degree College, Anantnag has been completed while as work on the construction of Additional block at GDC, Bijbehara is in final stages and would be completed by Dec,2022 it was said

In District Kulgam the team visited the 400 mtrs Chambgund bridge which is being constructed under the World Bank funded JTFRP at a cost of Rs 32.24 Cr. The 400 metre 2-lane steel trussed Girder bridge over the Vishaw nallah in Kulgam is one of the longest bridges to be constructed in the District and is crucial to providing all weather connectivity to several villages of Block Devsar with the District headquarters.

Team also visited the Govt.Primary school, Naikpora, Kulgam which is one of many BaLA designed school buildings constructed under the World Bank funded JTFRP across the J&K. Team had an interaction with children, teachers and local people. The local community expressed its gratitude to the World Bank for funding the construction of BaLA designed school building in the remote village of Kulgam.

During visit to Ganderbal, District the World Bank team visited Wayil, bridge the 1st , Arch designed steel truss bridge being constructed in Kashmir valley. The Aesthetically designed Arch type 110 mtr bridge over Sindh, Nallah in District Ganderbal taken up under the World Bank funded JTFRP at a cost of Rs 23.79 Cr. would be vital to providing the hassle free movement of vehicles on the Srinagar –Leh road .

The Visiting World bank team also visited the Willow- Wicker Artisan Cluster at Shalbug, Ganderbal, which has been developed under the Strengthening of Livelihood component of the World Bank funded, JTFRP. The Artisans associated with the Willow –wicker cluster explained the team about the different stages involved in the manufacturing of the willow products like, raw materials, seasoning, finishing etc. The Artisans expressed thankfulness to World Bank team for having taken up the development of Willow-Wicker cluster which was otherwise going through a lean patch. The Artisans said that development of the Willow Wicker Cluster has reinvigorated the sector and has provided the immense economic opportunities for local youth as they have been provided with trainings in product development, use of assorted raw materials, providing of market access, managerial skills under the World Bank funded Jhelum Tawi Flood Recovery Project.

A high level team of World Bank comprising of Shri, Hemang Karelia, Task Team Leader, Shri Deepak Singh, Sr. Disaster Risk Management specialist, Dr Chandershekhar, consultant /former Chief Architect, Ministry of Health, Govt of India, Ms. Supriti Dua, Financial Expert, Arghya Ghosh, Livelihood consultant, Peeyush Sekhsaria, Disaster Risk Management Specialist and Mr Manzoor Khan, Operations Specialist, today concluded its 5 day visit to J&K

During last 5 days the team had comprehensive discussions with PMU (Project Management Unit) of Jhelum Tawi Flood Recovery Project and various PIUs (Project Implementation Units) JKERA, PWD(R&B), I&CD, SMC, which are executing various sub-projects under the different components of the World Bank funded Jhelum Tawi Flood Recovery Project.

Dr Syed Abid Rasheed Shah (IAS) Chief Executive Officer J&KERA during meeting with World Bank team said that 143 sub-projects out of the total of 213 sub-projects have been completed under different components of the JTFR project. He added that expenditure of Rs 1131.51 Crores has been incurred under the project so far .

The completed sub-projects include various vital road/bridge sub-projects in both Jammu and Kashmir Division, Construction of BaLA (Building as a Learning Aid) designed schools across J&K, Installation of the (30) Manifold Oxygen Generation plants in hospitals located in most remote areas of the J&K, Providing of the Critical Care medical equipments to the District Hospitals across J&K, Construction of various Storm Water Drainage projects, Development of DSS (Decision Support System), IOFS (Integrated Operational Forecasting System), Study on MHRA (Multihazard Risk Assessment) for Strengthening of Disaster Management Capacity in J&K he said

Dr Syed Abid alongwith the visiting World Bank team also visited the under construction 120 bedded hospital at Bone & Joints Hospital which is being executed under JTFRP at an allotted cost of Rs 88.95 crores by NPCC (National Projects Construction Corporation) . It was informed that around 48% progress has been achieved on the project as a whole.

CEO, ERA directed the executing agency, NPCC to ensure that the highest standards of construction be maintained on execution of work with no compromises whatsoever on the timelines for the project

Dr. Chandrashekhar, Consultant, World Bank, former Chief Architect, Ministry of Health, Govt of India, asked the contractor that work on the sub-project be executed in such a manner so that the installation of the medical equipments & other hi-tech equipments in the new building is synchronised and seamless. Er. Rafiq Ahmad Rafiq Chief Engineer, (PWD) (R&B) Kashmir, Dr. Saima,Rashid, Principal GMC, Srinagar, Medical Superintendent, B&J Hospital & Sr Faculty members of the Bone & Joints Hospital were also present on the occasion.

The World Bank team also had a meeting with Ms. Saloni Rai, Director, Industries & Commerce, Kashmir during which the progress achieved under the component of Restoration & Strengthening of Livelihoods being executed by I&CD was discussed. It was said that with completion of New Composite Market Centre for Silk at Rajbagh and Composite Market Centre for wool at Bemina and installation of latest spinning/weaving equipments under the JTFR project the production capacity at these centres is showing a gradual increase.

The team also had an interaction with the members of the artisans of the (04) artisan craft clusters- Papier machie, Zadibal ,Crewel/ Chain Stitch, Noorbagh, Wool cluster, Bandipore ,and Willow Wicker, Ganderbal which have been developed under Restoration & Strengthening of livelihood component of World Bank funded JTFRP.

Shri Hemang Karelia, World Bank expressed the hope that I&CD would develop market linkages to these artisans clusters and also devise a strategy for sustenance of these clusters after culmination of the project.

The visiting team also had meetings with Senior officers of , JKERA, PMU, JTFRP PWD, R&B, Kashmir and SMC wherein they were briefed about the progress achieved on the components of Construction of Roads and Bridges, Construction of Critical Infrastructure, Strengthening of Disaster Management Capacity aswell as Strengthening of Urban Flood Management being implemented by these agencies respectively.

World Bank team also visited the project site of construction of EOC (Emergency Operations Centre) and SCADA control Room at Ompura being constructed by J&KERA at an allotted cost of Rs 34.88 Cr. under the World Bank funded JTFRP to strengthen Disaster Management Capacity in J&K.

Earlier during their 2 day stay in Jammu the World Bank team visited Sidhra-Suransar road, BaLA schools buildings constructed Puranapind R.S Pura ,Gujjarr Basti, Karnailacheck,, Jammu Division. The visiting World Bank had interactions with school children/ teachers at these newly constructed BaLa schools. The school children studying in these schools shared their positive experiences of learning in an altogether innovative ambience.

During visit to the (02) 300 LPM Oxygen Generation Plants constructed by J&KERA at Gaghwal and Hiranagar Hospitals, team interacted with medical professionals working in these hospitals. Locals of the areas expressed their gratitude to World Bank for having constructed the Oxygen plants in the hospitals.

Team also visited under construction (50m) steel motorable bridge from Katheel Ganjoo to Barsoa over Ghordi Nallah & 50 M span steel bridge from Barsoa to Patri over Barmeen Nallah in Udhampur District being constructed by J&KERA at a cost of 13.24 Crores.

PowerPoint Presentation was also made by the Director, Technical, J&KERA giving out details of the progress achieved on the implementation of World Bank funded Jhelum Tawi Flood Recovery Project in the Jammu Division. Director, Jammu JKERA, and other senior officers of PWD (R&B) were also present on the occasion.

Dr Raghav Langar, (IAS) Secretary, Planning Development and Monitoring Department today inspected the progress of work on Central Control Building for UT level EOC (Emergency Operations Centre) & SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) Control Room Building being constructed by J&K ERA under the World Bank funded JTFRP (Jhelum Tawi Flood Recovery Project) at Ompura,Budgam .

Er. Javaid Bukhari, Director Kashmir, JKERA, while briefing the Secretary, PDMD about the main features of the sub-project said that State of Art Emergency Operations Centre being constructed at an allotted cost of Rs 34.88 Cr provides for all the Integrated facilities required for the efficient & seamless management of an emergency situation under one roof .

He said that UT level Emergency Operations Centre being constructed inside SIDCO complex at Ompura, Budgam comprises of Main Control Building with G+1 floor having a built up area of 27,205 sfts that will also house Central Control Room for Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition Centre, Service Block with built up area of 3,224 sft, Dormitory Building for NDRF & UTDRF personnel with all facilities like Dining Hall, Kitchen, Recreation Room with the plinth area of 8,222 sfts and large sized warehouse having the plinth area of 11,248 sfts which will be used for the stocking of various relief and rescue equipment’s like rescue boats, potable pumps and essential food commodities. The EOC centre will also have two concrete platforms sized 2100x2 for pitching of tents for evacuation and will also have Helipad for emergency landing of Helicopters he added.

Giving details about the progress of work on the project Er. Iftikhar Wani, Director Technical, JTFRP said that reinforcement work for ground slab is in progress on the Dormitory Block while as reinforcement work for laying of rafts on Main Control building and excavation work for laying of platform for the Service Block and foundation for Warehouse Block is underway at present. Construction of 1,125 mtrs of boundary wall around the EOC has been completed he added.

Er. Iftikhar Hakim, Director Planning & Coordination , JTFRP said that the EOC are also being equipped with all the latest modern web-based –I.T enabled tools, used for the forecasting of natural disasters and coordinating the relief and rescue operations in case of any natural disasters like earthquake, floods, avalanches, snow storm etc. These web-based tools include (Decision Support System), IOFS (Integrated Operational Flood Forecasting System), DRDB (Disaster Risk Database) which have already been developed by JKERA under the World Bank funded JTFRP and handed over to the DMRRR (Department of Disaster Management Relief Rehabilitation & Reconstruction).

Er. Hakim further said that the SCADA Central Control building which would also be housed in the centre will be equipped with the latest SCADA System which has also been taken up under JTFR project and work on the installation of this system in the various pumping stations across the Srinagar city is in progress.

He further said that work on the installation of SCADA systems in the 80 pumping stations in Srinagar city is in progress with the work being undertaken through M/S Siemens which is installing he-tech equipments like PLC (Program Logic Control) Level switches, level transducers, level transmitters etc along with the installation of I.T facilities like Broadband, GPRS and V-Sat for ensuring the 24x7 internet connectivity of each pumping station with the Central SCADA Control Room Building at Ompura.

The SCADA is a latest system of software and hardware that would allow remotely controlling, switching on /off, help in timely identification of faults and monitoring the operations like managing the flow virtually in all the dewatering stations in Srinagar City.

Dr Raghav Langar said that such a State of Art facility equipped with all the latest I.T enabled hardware and software coupled with requisite Infrastructure facilities under one roof is being constructed for the development of a robust disaster management infrastructure in the U.T and would be backbone of the scientific Management of emergencies situations in J&K

Secretary, PDMD also asked the Director, Technical, JTFRP to take up the matter of alternative access to the EOC with the Chief Engineer, PWD(R&B) Kashmir. He also directed the engineers, quality audit consultants of JTFRP to strictly monitor the quality of work on the sub-project at each stage of execution .

Secretary, PD&MD further directed the executing agency to expedite the pace of work on the coveted project and ensure its completion within the stipulated timelines .

Dr.Raghav Langer, Secretary, Planning Development and Monitoring Dept, Govt of J&K today chaired a meeting to review the preparedness on the proposed projects to be executed by J&KERA with the financial assistance of ADB (Asian Development Bank) and JICA (Japan International Cooperation Agency) at Civil Secretariat Jammu here today.

Er. Iftikhar Hakim, Director, Planning & Coordination, JTFRP said that J&KERA under the forthcoming mega infrastructure projects proposed to be financed by Asian Development Bank and JICA (Japan International Cooperation Agency) intends to undertake the projects for the Construction of integrated Sewerage and Water supply schemes for the Greater Srinagar and Jammu cities to provide the people living in these rapidly expanding cities with basic urban facilities.

Secretary, PDMD asked the Officers of JKERA to be ready with the list of tentative projects to be taken up under the proposed ADB and JICA after due consultations with the line departments especially PWD(R&B), Jal Shakti and Housing and Urban Development Department so that further consultations are taken up at the highest level with the concerned line Departments and list of these tentative projects alongwith the PPRs’ (Preliminary Projects Reports ) are submitted to the DEA (Department of Economic Affairs) Ministry of Finance , Govt. of India for its review which will be followed up by the meeting with the Administrative Secretaries of these Departments

It was given out that projects worth Rs 1100 Crore and Rs 4600 Crore are proposed to be taken up under these forthcoming projects which would pave way for further strengthening and expansion of urban infrastructure in the UT .

Meeting was also attended by the Er, Iftikhar Wani, Director Technical,JTFRP,, Er Javaid Bukhari, Director Kashmir, JKERA, Er. Ajay Kumar, Raju, Director, Jammu, JKERA, Tasawuf Amin, Director, Finance, JKERA ,Er. Ishtiyaq Malik, Project Manager, JKERA,Er, Ashok Khokar Project Manager, Transport, JKERA, Jammu and Er. Nand Kishore Project Manager, Urban Jammu

The State of Art Web-based tools which include the DSS (Decision Support System) DRDB (Disaster Risk Database) and IOFS (Integrated Operational Forecasting System) developed by J&K ERA under the World Bank funded Jhelum Tawi Flood Recovery Project for the Strengthening of Disaster Management and Mitigation in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir have been handed over by the J&K Economic Reconstruction Agency to the Department of Disaster Management, Relief, Rehabilitation and Reconstruction.

The Project Management Unit of Jhelum Tawi Flood Recovery Project led by Er. Iftikhar Hakim, Director Planning and Coordination, JTFRP handed over the web based tools of DSS, DRDB and IOFS to Mr. NazimZai Khan, (KAS) Secretary to Govt. DMRRR. The reports on MHRA (Multihazard Risk Assessment in J&K &Ladakh) and DSS conducted by Project Management Unit of JTFRP under the World Bank funded project were also shared on the occasion.

Detailed demonstration of the web-based tools of DSS, IOFS, DRDB developed under the Jhelum Tawi Flood Recovery Project was also made before the Secretary, DMRRR and other officers of the Dept.

Secretary to Govt. DMRRR appreciated the efforts made by JKERA for having undertaken the development of latest scientific web-based applications under the World Bank funded project He also asked the officers of the DMRRR to immediately migrate to these applications so that the DMRRR, UTDMA (UT level Disaster Management Authority) and DDMAs (District Disaster Management Authorities) are able to fully benefit from these applications.

DSS is software for developing the better two – way communication between the different stakeholders that help them to effectively use the resources for the emergency response and Disaster Management, It equips the concerned line agencies –UTDMA, DDMA’s and the stakeholders departments with a potent and effective tool of a reliable communication bridge and strengthens theircapacitiesto act promptly during emergencies.

The development of Decision Support System along with the development of DRDB (Disaster Risk Database) and IOFS (Integrated Operational Forecasting System) for hydro-meteorological hazards such as floods, flash floods, avalanches and drought developed under the World Bank funded JTFRP is a robust integrated scientific system which will form the backbone of the Emergency Operation Centre--The command and control system for the Disaster Management in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir-- DEOCs’(District Emergency Operations Centres).

Er. Iftikhar Hakim, Director P&C also handed over the Report on the Upgraded Design Guidelineswith respect to the Multiple Disasters in the J&K with specific reference to the Seismic Zone 4 &5 was also formally handed over to the Principal Secretary, Housing and Urban Development Dept, J&K Govt.

The manuals prepared for the non-engineered constructions in the UT were also handed over to the Principal Secretary, H&UDD with the request to advise the urban local bodies, (municipal corporations, municipal committees) and the urban development authorities to disseminate the manuals to the citizens through their official websites and other possible means.