Who in Jammu would not notice the huge concrete pillars in the Tawi while passing over the Bhagwati Nagar bridge? It seems while we were only noticing the incomplete project, the state government made its decision to neglect it, once and for all.
According to news surfacing everywhere, the PDP-BJP coalition government has finally shelved the much anticipated artificial lake project on the Tawi. To save its skin, the government is now promising to develop banks of the river on the pattern of Sabarmati River Front of Gujarat.
Here are a few facts that you should know about the project which could never be completed:
On May 15, 2015, when the then Chief Minister, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, had announced shelving of the project on the grounds that it was not feasible, the BJP ministers had reacted strongly and vowed to complete it at any cost.
The then PHE, Irrigation and Flood Control Minister Sukhnandan Choudhary, who belongs to the BJP, had announced on June 15, 2015, that the artificial lake would completed within one year.
Deputy Chief Minister Nirmal Singh reportedly made remarks regarding the scrapping of the project to a news channel a few days ago.
Earlier, the artificial lake project was touted as an “integrated tourism project” to change destiny of the people of Jammu.
Interestingly, the BJP leaders have maintained a silence over the decision of the state government on which crores of rupees have already been spent.
According to a news piece by the Tribune the state government has now in principle agreed to shelve the project.
The project was approved by Governor Jagmohan in 1986 and its construction began much later in 2008.
Even after solution of a large number of legal and technical intricacies, the project missed three deadlines- July 2013, December 2013 and March 2014. For the last time, it again missed the deadline of June 2015.
On May 15, 2015 the Late mufti Mohammad Sayeed announced shelving of the project.
The same deputy CM Nirmal Singh, who has announced the shelving of the project now, had approached Union Water Resources Minister Uma Bharati on May 16, 2015 for saving the project.
