Jammu and Kashmir Economic Reconstruction Agency (J&KERA) today organized a workshop on “ Operation and Maintenance of Water supply system” at Institute of Hotel Management, Rajbagh, Srinagar.

A day long workshop was organized as part of capacity building component of Asian Development Bank (ADB) funded Multi sector Project for Infrastructure Rehabilitation (MPIR) with an objective of making participants aware about the best practices adopted for operation and maintenance of water supply schemes..

Shri G H Ganie, Project Manager (Urban) JK ERA while welcoming the participants gave brief presentation regarding aims and objectives of workshop.

Shri Gh Rasool Zargar, Chief Engineer, PHED, Kashmir, Guest of Honour on the occasion appreciated the quality of work undertaken by ERA under its ADB funded project. He said with the completion of mega water supply projects by ERA, PHED Kashmir today is in a much better position to provide best quality drinking water to the people of Srinagar City.

Shri Gh Rasool Zargar, Chief Engineer, PHED, Kashmir, Guest of Honour on the occasion appreciated the quality of work undertaken by ERA under its ADB funded project. He said with the completion of mega water supply projects by ERA, PHED Kashmir today is in a much better position to provide best quality drinking water to the people of Srinagar City. Shri O.P Dubey Director Urban J&K ERA who was Chief Guest on the occasion said that ERA has been able to complete majority of works in both Srinagar and Jammu cities under loan I and all through the execution of works ERA has enjoyed full cooperation and support from all line departments especially PHED. He said ERA and PHED are working with the team spirit for providing safe and clean drinking water to the people of the state . Highlighting the significance of holding workshop, Director Urban said that since most of the mega projects under water supply component have been completed and now the O&M (operation and maintenance) of these assets is of paramount importance. He said that till date ERA has completed and commissioned works worth 115 Crores under the water supply component He also said that ERA has also taken up the revamping of 5 Water Treatment Plants (WTP) in the Srinagar City and said that it for the first time that chlorination gaseous system will be used for treatment of raw water.

Later on Power point presentation were made by Shri OP Goyal on Energy Aduit and O&M of Electro Mechanical Equipments, Shri L.K Narayana on Use of Chlorination gases system in ater treatment, Shri V.K Chhabra on Water Quality and O&M of filter plants. Shri Jaipal Lokwani presented a case study of Mansarovar Jaipur on 24 x 7 water supply system and followed b Presentation on Electro Magnetic Flow meters by Mr Sandu.

Workshop also included Brainstorming Session in which participants from Line departments had interaction with the experts regarding issues faced during treatment of raw water and operation and maintenance of water treatment plants . The workshop was attended by 120 participants from PHED, ERA and other line department

Workshop was also attended by Shri Khalid Muzaffar, Director Transport/Central J&K ERA, Mr Ahmed Muzaffar Lankar Chief Engineer I&FC and Project Managers of JKERA, Team Leaders Shri BB Gupta and Shri Mr Bhavash Kumar besides engineers and field Staff of ERA

Jammu and Kashmir Economic Reconstruction Agency (J&KERA) under its ongoing Asian Development Bank funded Multisector Project for Infrastructure Rehabilitation Project (MPIR) has spent Rs 630 crores on rehabilitation of basic infrastructure in Kashmir division . Overall progress of 75% has been achieved on the project which aims at improvement and upgradation of roads and bridges under Transport sector and renovation and up gradation of basic urban facilities of water supply, drainage etc in twin cities of Srinagar and Jammu.

This was stated to the two member visiting team of Asian Development Bank (ADB) that visited valley to review the progress of ongoing MPIR. Team was informed that under the ongoing MPIR, J&K ERA had taken up work on 63 projects in Kashmir division out of which 19 projects have already been completed. The visiting team comprising of Mr Anil Motwani (Senior Transport specialist) (ADB) (INRM) and Mr. Sawgata Dasgupta (Urban Specialist) (ADB) (INRM) along with senior officers of J&K ERA visited many urban and transport sector sub-projects in valley .

ADB Team was informed that under MPIR JKERA that 370 km, out of 446 Kms and 10 bridges out of 22 bridges have been completed under Transport sector. However under Urban sector it was informed that 87 kms of water supply pipeline network and 37 kms of drainage network out of 53 kms 8 nos “Pay and Use” Toilet blocks at prominent places in Srinagar city have been completed by JKERA under the project.

The visiting team visited various sites were work was going on presently. During the site visit team had an interaction with residents of Mujgund, in outskirts of Srinagar city which falls on the tail end of 51 km long Rangil water supply transmission main which was completed by ERA in 2010. The residents of the area expressed their gratitude to JKERA for providing them with uninterrupted supply of clean drinking water.

The team during their meeting with Shri B.B Vyas, Chief Executive Officer, JKERA expressed overall satisfaction with progress achieved on the project and said that steps be taken for early handing over of of assets created to the concerned line departments for early utilization. Meeting was also attended by Shri Khalid Muzaffar, Director Transport, J&K ERA, Shri O.P Dubey, Director Urban, J&K ERA, Z.A Wani, Director Finance, J&K ERA and other senior officers of J&K ERA.

Work on 23 km Natipora- Newa- Pulwama road being executed by Jammu and Kashmir Economic Reconstruction Agency (JKERA) under transport sector of its ongoing Asian Development Bank (ADB) funded Mutisector Project for Infrastructure Rehabilitation (MPIR)is nearing completion as substantial progress has been achieved by agency on the road project. JKERA has already achieved more than 95% progress on Rs 27 crore road project. The road project by providing the smooth riding surface has already improved road connectivity and reduced the travel time for commuters who travel to Pulwama district via Natipora-Newa road. Besides benefiting thousands of people living on both sides of the road stretch from Natipora to Pulwama.

The project is being strictly executed as per the approved short resettlement plan (SRP) wherein an effort has been made to minimize the number of people getting affected due to execution of work on road project. Since As per the revised SRP for the project only one house at Wanpora was getting affected, owner of which has already been paid compensation in advance. No further properties have been acquired by ERA for the construction of said road and most of other people have donated land voluntarily for the purpose of road widening. However compensation has been paid to the parties having proprietary & land rights of holdings. Land acquisition process has also been done as per the State Land Acquisition Act (1990) through Collector land acquisition, JKERA.

The agency has so far completed bulk of allied works on the road project which include construction of drains on both sides of road from Natipora to Nowgam, Wanbal, Kanipora market,Magraypora, Wanpora,Newa market, and Govt degree college to Muran chowk Pulwama. However on those stretches where super elevation was available drains were constructed on one side only. At Parigam drains have been constructed on both sides of road as per the available profile. For the length of 100 meters the drain had to be constructed 600 mm away from the shop line as the local shopkeepers did not allow construction of drains. Construction of (20) no pipe culverts and (2) no box culverts has also been completed.

Day long workshop was organized by JKERA as part of capacity building component of Asian Development Bank (ADB) funded Multi sector Project for Infrastructure Rehabilitation (MPIR) with an objective to sensitize ERA staff especially field staff executing project on ground about social and environmental safeguard policies of Asian Development Bank (ADB) and also about various state and central laws on environment and rehabilitation.
In his inaugural address Director Central, J&K ERA Khalid Muzaffar said that today resettlement and environmental plans are an integral part of any infrastructure project planning process and meticulously prepared resettlement or environmental plan are pivotal for smooth execution of infrastructure projects.
Shri Ramesh Swarnakar, Social Safeguard Specialist (ADB) (INRM) made presentation on safeguard policies of Asian Development Bank(ADB) and latest amendments that have been made to the policy. .Swarankar later reflecting on his recent review of Kashmir projects appreciated the manner in which R&R issues have been documented and implemented by J&KERA. Short documentary on Resettlement and Rehabilitation policy (R&R) was also shown to the participants.
Shri Girish Mahajan , Environmental Officer, Asian Development Bank in his presentation briefed participants about the importance of Environmental safeguard measures in the infrastructure projects to minimize costs to the environment and also enlightened participants about the ADB’s Environmental Policy. He also presented a brief resume of state and central laws pertaining to environment and forests.
Presenting the vote of thanks Director Safeguard, J&K ERA(Sandeep Kujur) thanked participants for attending the workshop. He also thanked ADB experts for agreeing to be resource persons for the workshop on such ashort notice. He also informed participants about the progress achieved by JKERA under the safeguard component of the project.
Workshop was also attended by Director Urban,J&K ERA,Director Transport/Central, all the Project Managers of JKERA besides social & resettlement staff of JKERA and field engineers.

Jammu and Kashmir Economic Reconstruction Agency (JKERA) under the Transport sector of its ongoing Asian Development Bank (ADB) funded Multisector Project for Infrastructure Rehabilitation (MPIR) has so far spend Rs 443 crores on 51 Transport projects taken up by agency for execution in Kashmir division including some in Ladakh region.
JKERA had taken up improvement/up gradation of 29 roads projects having total length of 446 kms and construction of 22 bridges in Kashmir division and so far expenditure of Rs 386 crores has been made by agency on these 29 road improvement/ upgradation projects and blacktopping of 322 kms of road length has been completed , out of the total road length of 446 kms.Work on four road packages which include Rs 33.23 crores Lethpora-Panthachowk loop road (38 kms), Rs 10.20 crore Sumbal-Markundal-Hajin-Madwan (15.83 km), Rs 38 crores Sangrama- Sopore (27.7 km) and Rs 15 crores Potkhah-Pachar (15.74 km ) has been completed.
Further under the bridge sub-sector Rs 57 crores has been spent by the agency on the construction of 22 bridges in Kashmir division. Ten bridges have already been completed at the cost of Rs 22.08 crores and these include Kanikadal, Gundtaldara, Teilbal bridges in Srinagar district, Town hall and Naraspora bridges in Budgam district, Laktipora and Soafshali bridges in Anantnag district, Dachnipora and Yarbugh bridges in Baramulla district and Popchan in Bandipora district. Work on remaining 12 bridges spread across Kashmir division including two in Ladakh region is in progress.
The planning stage of the project like Summary Appraisal Reports,(SARs) Due Diligence Reports (DDRs) and other technical parameters for these transport works were completed in 2006 and physical work on most of these projects started in 2007-08. Although initial deadline for completion of work on these packages was 24 – 36 months but due to the obtaining circumstances in 2008 and 2010 causing demobilization of contractors and consequent delays in executing work on most of these projects. At the request of state Govt and JKERA, Asian Development Bank (ADB) was pleased to extend the validity of loan upto Dec 2012 and has given such a time extension in case of J&K.As on date contractors on all Transport packages have been fully mobilized and overall progress of 72% has been achieved on the these. However work on certain projects which include improvement and upgradation of Chadoora-Charier-Sharief , Sopore-Bandipore and Shadra-Kamalkote is being monitored closely and strict instructions have been given to contractors to further accelerate pace of work on these projects which have witnessed slippages in execution on account of some contractual issues

A power point presentation was made by concerned Directors of ERA regarding the progress achieved on each sub-project under their respective sectors.
Giving details about the progress of urban projects executed by J&K ERA in Srinagar city, Shri O.P Dubey, Director Urban, J&K ERA informed Vyas that out of the 9 projects taken up by ERA in Srinagar city 3 water supply projects have been completed and considerable progress has been achieved on remaining projects under the urban sector. Dubey further informed that all out efforts are being made to complete the remaining components of water supply during current working season and drainage works by June 2012. CEO ERA expressed satisfaction over the progress achieved by ERA under its urban sector and appreciated the steps taken up by Director, Urban and Project Manager Urban Kashmir to streamline the execution of work on drainage projects presently underway in uptown Srinagar.

Khalid Muzaffar, Director Transport giving details about the progress under Transport sector informed CEO ERA that under transport sector agency has already completed 11 transport packages in Kashmir division and work on remaining projects is in full swing.
Later giving details about the progress of JKUSDIP, Khalid Muzaffar who is also Director Central informed that work on sanitary landfill site at Achan along with construction of approach road and bridge is underway and is expected to be completed soon. He also said that work on laying of Harwan- Nishat Raw water pipeline taken up by ERA under JKUSDIP is progressing well and is expected to be completed ahead of schedule.
Vyas while reviewing the progress of ERA projects emphasized the need to strictly maintain the highest quality control and also asked officers to ensure that necessary safety measures are taken during execution of works
Meeting was also attended by Shri Sandeep Kujur, Director Safeguard/ Institutional Reforms,J&K ERA,Shri Zahoor Wani, Director Finance, J&K ERA, Shri G.H Ganaie, Project Manager,Urban, Kashmir, J&K ERA, Shri Rafiq Ahmad Zargar, Project Manager, JKUSDIP,J&K ERA, Kashmir,Shri S.K Gandootra,Project Manager, Transport, J&K ERA, Kashmir, Shri Mukhtar-ul-Aziz, Collector, Land Acquisition, J&K ERA,Shri G.A Dar, Administrative officer, J&K ERA and other senior officers and expert staff of J&K ERA.

As part of continuous monitoring of works being executed by J&K ERA, the Project Manager, J&K ERA, Mr, Ghulam Hassan Ganaie today inspected the ongoing work on a stretch of 6 meter deep drain at Hyderpora square adjacent to under construction Flyover.
While reviewing the progress of work on a stretch of deep drain adjacent to Hyderpora Flyover Project Manager instructed engineers, consultants and contractor to take all necessary steps to ensure safety to adjacent under construction Flyover.
He was informed by site engineers and consultants that utmost caution is being taken while executing the work on deep drain adjacent to Flyover and work is being executed in smaller sections of 5-6 meters at a time as recommended by R&B department and further cuts are made only after proper compaction and refilling of excavated portion with sand/ sandy soil.
He was told that despite these technical constraints considerable progress has been achieved on the stretch and work on remaining portion is expected to be completed by the target date.

Jammu and Economic Reconstruction Agency (J&K ERA) under the drainage sub-sector of urban component of its ongoing Asian Development Bank (ADB) funded Multisector Infrastructure Rehabilitation Project (MIRP) has so far spent Rs 65 crores on the drainage sub-projects taken up by agency for execution in uptown Srinagar which will benefit about 70,000 people living in the area .
The drainage projects which are first of its kind in the state being executed by JKERA along the national highway bye pass from Bemina chowk to Pohru chowk is divided into three sub-projects having the lengths of ; 24.84 kms Rawalpora – Tengpora,16.94 kms Pohru chowk – Chanapora and 12.8 km Bemina chowk– Fruit mandi sub-projects respectively.The project involves the construction of deep drains, main drains and sub-mains besides construction of sumps/pumping stations.
Director Urban, JKERA, Shri O.P Dubey who inspected the various drainage works being executed by JKERA along the national highway byepass was informed by G.H Ganaie,Project Manager Urban (Kashmir) that so far agency has completed 35 kms of deep drain, main drains and sub mains. Further out of the total of 0.868 kms of pipe jacking on Pohru-Chanapora drainage sub-project, 0.504 kms of pipe jacking has been completed.
Later Dubey also visited Hyderpora chowk along with Project Manager and S .P traffic, Srinagar Maqsood-u-Zaman, where work on 6 meter trunk drain is underway. He was informed that out of 340 meters of deep drain from Hyderpora chowk to post office lane (on national highway) 240 meters has been completed and remaining portion of 100 meters will be completed within next 15- 20 days and utmost caution is being taken by agency to prevent any kind of damage to adjacent structures (flyover and other residential/commercial structures). Further execution of work on this drain has been complicated by difficult working conditions of highly saturated soil and poor cohesion of soil. Keeping these conditions in view the work is being executed in smaller sections of 5-7 meters at a time and work is carried forward only after proper compaction and refilling of excavated portion with sand/ sandy soil.
Dubey, instructed ERA engineers and contractor to take necessary steps to accelerate the pace of work and also to take all safety measures during execution of work. He also had an interaction with some locals present at site who appreciated the manner in which work is being undertaken by agency. He thanked locals for showing patience and extending cooperation to ERA engineers and contractor during execution of work.

On the directions of Hon’ble Chief Minister of J&K State, Principal Secretary to Hon’ble Chief Minister/Chief Executive Officer, J&K ERA Shri B.B Vyas took review of road/bridge sub-projects being executed by J&K ERA under the Transport Sector of its ongoing ADB funded Multisector Infrastructure Rehabilitation Project in Baramulla & Bandipora districts.

While reviewing the progress of work on Sopore Bandipora road sub-project, it was observed that contractor has repeatedly failed to meet the targets for completion of the project. It was therefore decided that performance of contractor will be reviewed again on 6th & 10th of June 2011 and if contractor fails to achieve the targets by that time, contract shall be terminated and action as warranted under rules be initiated against contractor and work shall be handed over to PWD(R&B) in order to protect the larger public interest. CEO ERA impressed upon ERA officers to closely monitor the pace of work on the project.

CEO ERA also reviewed progress of work on bridges under construction in North Kashmir and expressed concern about slow progress of work on some bridges. He asked Director Transport,J&K ERA to take similar action in case of other similarly non-performing contractors.

Among others meeting was attended by Mr Nizamudin Bhat Hon’ble MLA Bandipora, Principal Secretary to Government PW(R&B) Department, Chief Engineer R&B Kashmir and Director Transport J&K ERA

In this regard several consultation meetings have been held for the last one year with all owners/tenants of commercial establishments who are likely to be affected and they have been briefed about the rehabilitation proposals including the broader outline of proposed rehabilitation complexes to be built for them at Jehangir chowk. Besides periodic meetings are being held with the representatives of traders on regular basis

Pertinent to mention here that a meeting was held with representatives of Kashmir Traders Federation in the office chambers of Shri Khalid Muzaffar,Director Central, J&K ERA on 22nd April, 2011 wherein KTF representatives were briefed about measures being taken for rehabilitation of affected people.

A follow up meeting was held in the office chambers of Project Manager, JKUSDIP, J&K ERA on 14th May, 2011. This meeting was also attended by a number of representatives from the trader’s bodies who expressed general satisfaction with steps taken up by J&K ERA so far to rehabilitate the affected people.