In a significant step towards the self –reliance of the artisans clusters developed under the World Bank funded Jhelum Tawi Flood Recovery Project , Crewel/ Chain Stitch Artisan Cluster at Noorbagh, which was one of the first artisan clusters developed under the project has been registered as the “Producers Owned Company “by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Govt. of India. The artisan cluster has been issued the certificate of incorporation by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs under the name “NOORAARI CRAFTS PRODUCER COMPANY LIMITED”.

With the Artisan Craft Cluster obtaining the coveted registration from the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, GOI, the artisans associated with the cluster now see a renewed hope in being associated with the traditional crafts of crewel/chainstitch.

“Divorced with 2 kids I was totally dependent on my relatives financially, but after having received the skill enhancement training at the Noorbagh artisan cluster, I am now able to earn 800-1000 per day which is enough for me to sustain a family of 3 without being dependent on any of my relatives “ Says Shaheena , one of the artisans at the cluster.

About 600 artisans associated with the Crewel/ Chain stitch Cluster at Noorbagh developed under Jhelum Tawi Flood Recovery Project see it as an achievement of one of the major milestone towards the development of the first artisan owned producer company in the valley.

Conceived and Developed under the component of the Restoration and Strengthening of the Livelihoods of the JTFRP with an objective of reviving the traditional crafts and providing the gainful employment opportunities to youth.

The Artisan Cluster which is now in its 3 year of existence after initial skill assessment of the artisans associated with the crafts of crewel and chain stitch has been focussing on imparting the artisans with the much needed skill enhancement in the areas of the product development- Developing the new prototypes, use of latest colour schemes, utilisation of newly developed good quality raw materials, new techniques besides honing the managerial skills of artisans and providing the marketing linkages for their products.

“For the holistic development of the artisans, craft clusters under JTFRP are designed in a such a manner so as to bring a group of scattered artisans under one umbrella and to impart them with as much skillsets related to their craft as possible and also to develop their managerial capabilities as would enable them to function as sustainable & profitable artisan owned business enterprise” said Dr Syed Abid Rasheed Shah, Chief Executive Officer, JKERA/JTFRP. It is indeed a moment of immense satisfaction to see the Noorbagh Artisan cluster registered as a “producers owned company” CEO, JKERA/JTFRP added.

Dr. Syed Abid further said “Under JTFRP we have also taken up the development of more clusters for different traditional crafts like Papier Machie (Zadibal) , Willow wicker (Ganderbal) , Wool and Pashmina (Bandipore) to provide the artisans with skill enhancement, product development trainings and develop market linkages for their products with an objective of promoting the sustainable livelihoods under the traditional cottage industry sector

JTFRP has engaged the services of the consultancy for the development of the crewel/ chain stitch cluster at Noorbagh which has been tasked with the responsibility of developing the capacities of the artisans in all the aspects of skill development, developing managerial skills and developing market linkage’s for their products and also undertake necessary formalities for the registration of cluster as “ Producer Owned Company”

“ I had given up the craft owing to its diminishing economic returns and exploitation of the middle men but after having received training in the product development which made artisans aware about the latest design trends in market and also with the assured market support for our products I see lot of hope in the craft “ said Maimoona another artisan associated with the cluster

One of the significant aspects of the cluster has been the developing of market linkages to the craft cluster for marketing of its products and for that the consultancy has been set a target of providing the cluster with the business of at least Rs 1 Crore and to this end over the last one year the Noorbagh cluster has produced and sold products worth around Rs. 30 lacs approx. and are presently working on the consignment of products for FAB India and are also negotiating with another marketing giant IKEA group for marketing of its products.

Besides being instrumental in the revival of crewel and chain stitch crafts , the craft cluster at Noorbagh which comprises women in majority has also become an agent of social change. The women associated with the craft cluster now see themselves as the self –reliant and contributing members of the society.

Four -Day training programme organized by the Jhelum Tawi Flood Recovery Project (JTFRP) on the theme of “Latest Flood Forecasting Methods and its Application in Integrated Forecast System” for the engineers of the Irrigation and Flood Control Department concluded here today at I&FC Guest House Rammunshi Bagh Srinagar.

The 4-Day comprehensive training programme for the engineers of the I&FC Dept was organized with an objective to build the capacities of the functionaries of the dept in the highly specialized technical realms of the flood mitigation methods of Flood modeling using the various hydrological & hydraulic models which are the scientific approaches used as one of critical tools in the Integrated Forecasting System.

The training was conducted for the capacity building of the mid-level managers of I&FC Dept. under the component of Strengthening of Disaster Management Capacity of the World Bank funded JTFRP (Jhelum Tawi Flood Recovery Project)

During the 4-day training programme which was attended by more than 30 engineers of the I&FC ,Dept. Kashmir, hands on training was imparted to participants on the use of various latest software’s used in many advanced countries across the globe for the timely forecasting of floods. The training module would enable the engineers of the Dept. to perform in a more efficient manner as frontline workers for the flood mitigation measures.

“During the course of workshop experts in the field updated our knowledge on the latest flood forecasting software’s which if adopted would be crucial to the timely forecasting of floods” said one of engineers who participated in the programme. Iftikhar Ahmad Kakroo, Chief Engineer I&FC, Kashmir attended the concluding session of the programme . He said that the 4-day training programme would definitely build the capacities of the engineers in the sphere of flood forecasting.

Similar training programme for the engineers of I&FC, Dept , Jammu is scheduled be held at Winter capital very soon.

Necessary to mention here that building the resilience to natural disasters is one of the core objectives of the Jhelum Tawi Flood Recovery Project funded by the World Bank and as part of the project to strengthen the Disaster Management capacity of various core agencies several latest relief & rescue equipment’s, underwater cameras , inflatable rubber boats, emergency lighting towers, portable gensets, mobile snow cutters, portable dewatering pumps etc have been already provided to SDRF while as Quick Response fire tenders , medium weight Quick response vehicles, Regular fire tenders and other firefighting equipment’s like Hydrauic spreaders, cutter/combi tools, Hydraulic jacks, fire proximity suits, water jet blankets etc to have been provided to the Fire & Emergency Dept under the project .

Further to strengthen the flood forecasting infrastructure in J&K various high end Hydrometrological equipment’s like automatic water level radars, water velocity radar sensors, acoustic Doppler current profilers, automatic weather stations, automatic rain and snow gauges are also being procured under the project.

The Critical Care Medical Equipments procured under the World Bank funded Jhelum Tawi Flood Recovery Project are all set to revolutionize the critical health care system in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir. The 42 different types of latest state of art critical care equipments are being procured under the CERC (Contingency Emergency Response Component) having an allocation of USD 50 million under the Jhelum Tawi Flood Recovery Project.

The procurement of these equipments is being undertaken through JKMSCL (Jammu and Kashmir Medical Supplies Corporation) which has been designated as the PIU (Project Implementation Unit).

The 1st batch of these equipments comprising of 10 different types of equipments has already reached the warehouses of JKMSCL at Jammu and Srinagar respectively. As per the officials of JKMSCL Warehouse at Srinagar, the corporation has received the 1st consignment of the equipments which include the (40) Haemodialysis machines, (160) Oxygen concentrators, (10) Haematology Analysers, (38) High Flow Nasal Oxygen Therapy Units (120) Intensive Care Beds , (5) mobile X-Ray units, (150) cardiac monitors, (20) Paediatric Glucometers / Bilirubinometers, (12) Integrated bi-polar and US coagulation cutting units and (14) Blood Bank Refrigerators with accessories at its Warehouse in Srinagar.

The JKMSCL officials further say that the provision of USD 50 million for the procurement of the much needed critical care equipments under the JTFR project could not have come at a time better then this as the U.T health sector is faced with health emergency posed due to the COVID-19 pandemic due to which the seriously ill COVID-19 patients are referred from the peripheral hospitals to the District and Tertiary Care hospitals for the specialized treatment owing to the shortage of intensive care beds and other critical care equipments in the peripherals hospitals.

With the availability of these critical care equipments procured under JTFRP the critically ill patients can be treated at the peripheral hospitals only thus would reduce the burden of the referrals on the District and Tertiary Hospitals besides providing the people with quality health care facilities their native places.

The JKMSCL, Project Implementation Unit for the component has already signed contracts agreements with the various rate contractors enlisted with the corporation for the supply of these various critical care medical equipment’s. Some of the major equipments being procured under the component include Intensive Care Beds, Plasma Sterilizers, Anasthesia Work Stations , Cardiac Monitors, Oxygen Concentrators, Dithermy machines, Computerised ECG machines, Colour Doppler machines, Hemo- Dialysis machines for paediatric patients, Defibrillators, Portable X-ray Machines, Electro-Hydraulic Operation theatres, Integrated Bipolar and Ultrasonic Coagulation cutting devices, Paediatric Glucometers/Bilirubinometers, Colour Doppler Machines, CT Scan Machines, Full HD Fluorescence Technology Laparoscope End vision Set, and various other critical care equipment’s.

Dr. Syed Abid Rasheed Shah, Chief Executive Officer, JKERA/JTFRP has stressed upon the the Jammu and Kashmir Medical Supplies Corporation to complete the procurement process within the stipulated timelines so that these equipments are made available to the various peripherals hospitals across the J&K at an earliest and enable the Health dept. to tackle the COVID-19 situation more efficiently

Er. Javaid Iqbal Tara, Director Kashmir, J&KERA (Jammu and Kashmir Economic Reconstruction Agency) today inspected the project sites of various road and bridge sub-projects being executed by JKPCC (Jammu and Kashmir Projects Construction Corporation) under the World Bank funded Jhelum Tawi Flood Recovery Project.

During site visit to Rs 8.37 widening and upgradation of Amberpora-Haritar-Akhoonpora road in Baramulla, Manager, JKPPC informed Er. Javaid Tara that work on the sub-project is under way on the component of widening & sub-base work with a cumulative progress of more than 45% achieved on the sub-project. Director ERA asked the JKPCC officers to further accelerate the progress of work on the vital road sub-project which will provide people of the area most of whom have agriculture and horticulture as main source of livelihood with improved and faster access to market .

Javaid Tara during visit to Rs 7.4 crore bridge at Waza Mohalla,at Kreeri was informed that the sub-structure for the 1X 50 metre bridge over frastarhar nallah has been completed and now the impetus is being given on the construction of the superstructure of the bridge for which procurement process is already underway.

Similarly sub-structure of Rs 6.6 crore Shrakwara Bridge at Wagoora over Ninglinallah has also been completed with fabrication of superstructure already started for which material has also been procured informed the JKPCC officers.

Javaid Tara also visited Wagilla were work on 1x50 meter span bridge is being executed at an cost of Rs 8.6 crores. He was informed by JKPCC officers that work on sub-structure has already been completed and presently fabrication of girders for the superstructure is going on.

Later he also visited the Gogjidaji in Sopore aswell as Trikolabal in Pattan were work on Rs 5 crore and Rs 6.3 crore bridges is underway with work on the sub-structure completed in Shrakwara Bridge while as work on the sub-structure on side has been completed while as work on another side of the sub-structure is under execution. Director JKERA emphasized upon the JKPCC engineers to ensure completion of the substructure during the winter season owing to the low level of water in the nallah and also directed them to expediate the pace of work on the said bridge sub-project which is crucial to providing the people of the area with all weather connectivity.

Director Kashmir asked the JKPCC officers to expedite the progress of work on all the road and bridge sub-projects and chalk out a scientific strategy for the earliest completion of all the sub-projects within the stipulated timelines and also ensure strict compliance to social safeguard , environmental , quality control norms and avoid cost overruns.

Shri Atal Dullo, IAS Financial Commissioner , Health and Medical Education Department today reviewed the progress on the 50 million USD (Rs 368 crores) Contingency Emergency Response Component of the World Bank funded Jhelum Tawi Flood Recovery Project. Jammu and Kashmir Medical Supplies Corporation (JKMSCL) is functioning as the project implementation unit for the procurement of various critical care medical equipment to be provided to the hospitals across J&K.

Shri Atal Dullo said that the World Bank assisted CERC component of JTFRP would be pivotal for strengthening of the Critical Health Care Institutions involved in COVID-19 management up to District level, esp. Intensive Care Units, laboratories etc. He said the component of JTFRP would have an immediate impact on the better management of the pandemic along with tangible impact on providing quality health care services.

Dr Syed Abid Rasheed Shah (IAS) Chief Executive Officer, JKERA/JTFRP impressed upon the Jammu and Kashmir Medical Supplies Corporation (JKMSCL) to complete the procurement without any delays and as per world bank guidelines

Dr. Yashpal Sharma, Managing Director, JKMSCL informed that the project is under implementation and various equipment required for strengthening of health care institution are in the process of procurement and shall be installed in such institutions within next two months.

Financial Commissioner, H&ME directed the JKMSCL to undertake the procurement process of the critical care equipment’s in a transparent, time bound manner as stipulated under the World Bank procurement guidelines so that people of the Union Territory are provided with these much needed equipment’s at an earliest. Financial Commissioner, H&ME also fixed deadlines to JKMSCL for implementation of the project.

The meeting was attended by the Dr.Syed Abid Rasheed Shah (IAS), Chief Executive Officer, JKERA, Director General (Planning) Health and Medical Education Dept, Director, Finance, H&ME , Managing Director, JKSMCL, General Manager, (P&S) and Deputy General Managers of JKMSCL.

Tripartite Portfolio Meeting(TPRM) in its recently held meeting to review the progress of various projects funded by the World Bank across the country and attended by the senior officers of the DEA (Department of Economic Affairs ) Ministry of Finance, Govt of India , World Bank and senior officers of various EA’s (Executing Agencies) executing these projects has expressed immense satisfaction over the marked improvement in the implementation of the World Bank funded USD 250 million Jhelum Tawi Flood Recovery Project in Jammu and Kashmir.

As per the reliable sources the meeting has noted with satisfaction that the project since June 2020 has shown a reasonable progress in implementation. It has appreciated the efforts made by J&KERA to resume work on various sub-projects Post-COVID 19 lockdown and also expressed satisfaction over meeting of the disbursement targets aswell as the progress achieved on the allotment of various sub-projects under the different components of the JTFRP. Meeting has also expressed the satisfaction over the regular updations being made on the project related MIS (Management Information System) and also on the implementation of the various social safeguards measures under the Project

The Department of Economic Affairs (DEA), Ministry of Finance, Government of India, has praised Jammu and Kashmir Government for the successful implementation of the World Bank-funded ‘Jhelum Tawi Flood Recovery Project’ (JTFRP).

“We have gone ahead of the previous disbursement targets set by the DEA,” said, Chief Executive Officer, JKERA Dr. Syed Abid Rasheed Shah. He said that his team would continue to give its best in every possible way to complete the vital developmental works under the World Bank-funded Jhelum Tawi Flood Recovery Project.

“The way we are going now I am optimistic that we will be able to meet all the physical and financial targets set under the forthcoming quarter” the CEO assured.

It may be recalled that the ‘Jhelum Tawi Flood Recovery Project’ (JTFRP) as a project (unit) was integrated with the J&K Economic Reconstruction Agency (ERA). The Jammu and Kashmir Government had authorized ERA to make such consequential changes in the processes or structures as may be necessitated by the integration and also enter into any correspondence or discussions with the Department of Economic Affairs (DEA) of the Union Ministry of Finance and the World Bank, as may be required. In the aftermath of the devastating floods of September 2014, the JTFRP was sanctioned by the World Bank for USD 250 million. The J&K ERA is a special purpose vehicle for the implementation of externally aided projects in J&K .

Jhelum Tawi Flood Recovery Project funded by the World Bank has 7 components which include the components of (1) Reconstruction and strengthening of the Critical Infrastructure, (2) Reconstruction of the roads and bridges, (3) Restoration of the Urban Flood Management System, (4) Restoration and strengthening of the Livelihoods, (5)Strengthening of the Disaster Risk Management System, (6) Contingency Emergency Response for Covid -19 and Implementation Support.

Necessary to mention here that in the last quarter of July- September the appreciable progress has been made under the project with 96.41%, 86.52%,100%,78.30% and 55.15% sub-projects awarded under the component,1,2,3,4 and 5 respectively (having a cumulative cost of 173.13 million USD) while as for the component 6 the JKMSCL which is project implementation unit for the project has been asked to expedite the procurement process for the various critical health care equipment’s which are to be procured under the component 6 of JTFRP to fortify the critical health care equipment’s requirements in J&K .

The TPRM meeting which was conducted via virtual mode was attended by Dr.Syed Abid Rasheed Shah (IAS) Chief Executive Officer, JKERA/JTFRP and also other senior officers of Project Management Unit (PMU), JTFRP and JKERA

Pertinently, JKERA has acquired the requisite expertise in the procedures and guidelines followed in the case of externally funded projects and would ensure a seamless and quick execution process.

Dr, Syed Abid Rasheed Shah, Chief Executive Officer, JKERA/JTFRP has said that the key to successful disaster risk mitigation is public participation. He was speaking at a Webinar organised by Jhelum Tawi Flood Recovery Project on the theme of “Promoting Safe Habitat & Structural Safety”.

The Webinar was organised by JTFRP as part of the sensitization campaign on one of its sub-project namely “ Upgrading Design Guidelines ,building codes/ material specifications with respect to multiple Disasters in J&K” under the component of ” Strengthening the Disaster Management Capacity “.

CEO,ERA/JTFRP said that regulatory mechanism alone is not sufficient for developing a much needed approach towards safe homes for people to prevent the loss of lives in case of natural calamities like earthquakes, landslides , avalanches etc to which J&K is very susceptible, but the sustained sensitization of the people on the issue is required to achieve this desired objective. He added that the adoption of the ideal mix of the traditional construction methods as well as the latest scientific construction approach will play a crucial role in this. “We must also take a cue from the scientific sense and traditional wisdom as visible from many of age old historical buildings which have survived many natural calamities without sustaining much of damage “Dr. Abid said.

Dr Abid dwelt at length about the various sub-projects being executed under the component of Strengthening of Disaster Management Capacity of JTFRP which is first of its kind in J&K and its significance for building the resilience to various natural disasters.

Speaking on the occasion Prof. CVR Murthy from I.I.T Madras briefed the participants about the relationship between the Multi-hazards and building permissions and how to correlate the various prevalent multi-hazards in a region while planning the structural designs.

Alpa Sheth, Managing .Director M/S VMS Consultants limited said that there is need to have a separate regulatory system manned by the qualified professionals for granting the building permission who will focus on some of the very basic structural safety norms while granting permissions for construction. She said that the 3rd party reviews and sensitization of people about the issue is also very essential.” People have right to hazard resistant homes and all the stakeholders, planners, architects, bureaucrats, structural engineers have an important role in achieving this objective” Sheth said

Kamal Kishore, Member NDMA spoke on “Policy perspectives on Safe Habitat and Structural Safety”and Dr, Umamaheshwaran Rajasekar, Chair Urban Resilience presented an insight into “ Role of Planning and Design” while as Manu Prakash, CEO, M/S Taru gave an detailed background of the theme.

Hemang Karelia, Task Team Leader, World Bank expressed the hope that the Webinar on the theme of structural safety is a step in right direction so sensitize practioners and people on the importance of safety parameters of building in multihazard prone region like J&K.

The Webinar was attended by more than 150 participants from the across the country which included urban planners, architects, structural engineers, policy makers, researchers and various experts in the field of disaster mitigation and many officers of JTFRP .

Q&A session was also conducted at the conclusion of the webinar during which participants asked various questions to the experts to gain more clarity on the topic.

The traditional wool based industry in the J&K is being given a major overhaul under the ongoing World Bank funded JTFRP (Jhelum Tawi Flood Recovery Project) —a move is being hailed by the people associated with the wool production as well as the employees working at the heritage Govt . Bemina Woolen Mill Srinagar

Dr Syed Abid Rasheed Shah, Chief Executive Officer JKERA/JTFRP said that the JKERA under the component of Restoration and Strengthening of Livelihoods of the World Bank funded JTFRP is taking concrete steps for the restoration/strengthening of livelihoods under the traditional cottage based industry and this step a major revamp is underway for the restoration of Govt. Woollen Mills at Bemina .He said that the objective of the sub-project is to strengthen the infrastructure of the heritage mill and provide the machinery with latest equipment’s so that the production of wool products is maximised to full potential.. Besides the local wool producers also get a good demand for their produce locally, CEO said.

The CEO said that the work under on the component of Strengthening & Restoration of Livelihood as well as other components of JTFRP are going on smoothly , saying that with the completion of such projects, the concerned sectors would get hugely benefited.

“We are trying to work on the various components across Jammu and Kashmir at the same time. We hope our interventions bring about a positive impact in the lives of beneficiaries” the CEO said.

He said for the heritage Bemina Woolen Mills, the project is being executed by the Department of Industries and Commerce as the project implementation unit.

The sub-project involves the construction of a building of Showroom and for Wool products manufactured at the Govt. Woollen Mills , Bemina, were wool products manufactured at the Govt. Woollen Mills,Bemina will be showcased which is being constructed at a cost of Rs 2 crores . It also includes the restoration and repair works of the Government Woolen Mill at Bemina which had suffered immense damage during the floods of 2014 .Work is nearing completion and is expected to be completed soon with more than 80% progress achieved on the sub-project with work already completed on the main buildings and work underway on interior finishing components.

Sajid Nazir, Nodal Officer, Industries and Commerce, J&K, said that under the component various latest equipment’s have been being procured, including 8 hi-tech looms in order to strengthen the infrastructure at Government Woolen Mills Bemina. Besides this, the component aims to carry out the procurement of Rapier looms, boilers, dyeing and related types of equipment etc for which contract has been awarded.

“Overall the sub-project involves the civil work component under which new showrooms cum interpretation centre came up. The Showroom would be completed soon and this will surely help our products to get the better market,” Nazir said.

He said that in order to arrest losses, the J & K government from time to time invested money into the rundown Bemina Woolen Mills to improve its products that had plummeted to an all-time low.

He said that Jammu and Kashmir is one of the top ten states/UTs, which has the top quality wool production. Nazir said that with the commissioning of several of these sub-projects, the demand for the raw wool produced locally would be in great demand at Government Bemina Woollen Mill would not only benefit the department but around 3000 families associated with the wool production and its processing.

Another official, Khurshid Ahmad at Bemina Woolen Mills said that “2014 floods washed away everything at the Mill and most of the expensive machines and looms got washed away,” he said. He said that while a washing unit was installed and old machines repaired, most of the capital infusion was devoured by the civil works.”

He said that the upgradation works of the Govt. Woollen Mill at Bemina will help them to increase the production from next fiscal. “We have nearly hundreds of workers and the unit has suffered immensely and once we achieve the target, we should be able to have a bit of profit as well,” he said.

Pertinently, the government-run Bemina Woolen Mill is marketing certain finished products and is trying to compete with larger manufactures like Raymonds and Vimal beside the J&K Handicrafts Development Corporation which is the major Tweed manufacturer in J&K. The officials said that thrust would remain on producing high quality woollen & worsted tweed suiting, serge, Angola, Terricot, blankets.

Basharat Jeelani Kawoosa Director Technical, Project Management Unit , Jhelum Tawi Flood Recovery project exhorted upon the R&B, Kashmir and JKPCC which are executing the work on various school ,higher education building, bridge and road sub-projects under the World Bank funded Jhelum Tawi Flood Recovery Project in the valley.

Basharat Jeelani Kawoosa said this during the day long inspection of various works in south Kashmir which are under execution in various parts of the south Kashmir.

During visit to the Rs 21.25 crore Rohmoo Bridge in Pulwama District, Showkat Ahmad, General Manager, JKPCC informed that work on the sub-structure of the bridge has been completed and fabrication is underway on the superstructure. Director Technical asked the JKPCC to expedite pace of work on the bridge sub-project and also advised them to start work on other parallel activities like demarcation of the approaches for the bridge, procurement of the bridge bearings.

At Trenz Bridge in Shopian work on which is also being executed by JKPPC at a cost of Rs 34.50 crores , G.M,JKPCC informed that the work on the sub-structure is underway and he assured that work on same shall be completed within 3 weeks. Director, Technical asked the JKPPC to accelerate the work on the bridge sub-project with the start of work on other parallel activities like demarcation of approaches and other allied activites.

Director Technical also inspected progress of work on the construction /upgradation of Rs 3.36 crore Malangpora-Chakora-Chowdhary Bagh-Litter-road in Pulwama which is also being executed by JKPPC. He inspected the laying of macadam which was underway. G.M JKPCC said that work on the road sub-project will be completed within 15-20 days. Inhabitants living along both the sides of the road expressed satisfaction with the upgradation of the road under JTFRP

Later in the day Basharat Kawoosa visited various project sites were work is being executed by R&B, Kashmir. During visit to the construction additional classroom block at Govt Degree College , Bijbehara which is being executed by the R&B,Kashmir at a cost of Rs 9.21 crores. concerned A.E.E of R&B informed that work on the ground floor of the block has been completed and shuttering for laying of slab on 1st floor is underway.

He also visited the various sites in Arwani, Naina Batpora, Bijbehara etc were work on the construction of various school buildings is underway by R&B,Kashmir under the JTFRP.

Director, Technical also visited the Wachi Bridge site work on which is being executed by R&B, Kashmir at an estimated cost of Rs 3.1 crores. It was informed that requisite test pile investigation of the site has been undertaken and initial load test is being undertaken presently.

Director, Technical, JTFRP asked the officers of the JKPCC and R&B,Kashmir to further accelerate the pace of work on all the sub-projects with specific impetus on parallel activities and undertake all the allied activities to prevent the slippage of timelines and cost overruns.

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).

Dr. Syed Abid Rasheed Shah, Chief Executive Officer today inspected the progress of work on the sub-project were civil-work had already started and today work on the laying of piles for the construction of main building was started formally. Dr. Samia Rashid Principal, Govt. Medical College was also present on the occasion.

Basharat Jeelani Kawoosa, Director Technical, JTFRP informed the CEO that the building has G+4 structure with modern earthquake resilient technology, the upgradation involves 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 would include IGBC (India Green Building Council) rating system, biomedical waste management .The bio-medical system designed will cater to the bio-medical generation of 140 kgs/day which will be disposed off along 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.

He said that 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 are also being taken into account. He added that the design of the hospital has been finalised after several rounds of consultations with the leading health infrastructure experts, health dept and hospital administration and their inputs have been incorporated into the final design.

Basharat said that the work on the sub-project was started in July this year and necessary soil investigation tests along with other techno-feasibility tests have already been conducted at site along with the site clearance and dumping of the excavated materials at an appropriate location.

Dr. Abid directed the representatives of the NPCC and R&B (PIU for the project) to ensure the completion of work within the stipulated timeframe. He directed NPCC to mobilise more men and machinery at site to accelerate the pace of pilling work as well as the other components of the work since the construction of the additional 120 bedded block will provide the much needed quality treatment /care to the patients and increase the intake capacity of the largest orthopaedic hospital in valley.

Dr Samia Rashid, Principal GMC said “ The construction of the additional 120 bedded hospital block is an huge opportunity to upgrade the infrastructure in one of the vital hospitals of the valley, which had suffered immense damage due to the floods of 2014” .
Iftikhar Hakim, Director, Planning and Coordination, JTFRP, Prof . Altaf , Nodal Officer on behalf of health dept for the sub-project , Dr Suhail Mian Medical Superintendent, Bone and Joints Hospital ,Barzulla and other senior officers of JTFRP and Health Dept also accompanied the CEO JKERA/JTFRP during the site visit.