J&K govt to issue fresh tenders for artificial Tawi lake project

The Jammu and Kashmir government, which cancelled GR Infra Projects Limited's contract for developing the artificial Tawi lake here, is set to release fresh tenders to resume work.

After the Advisor to the Governor's intervention, a revised detailed project report was framed, according to which Rs 51.57 crore shall be required to complete the project and Rs 4.97 crore to undo the damages caused due to floods till date, officials said.

"Notices were given to the contractor regarding completion of Tawi Lake Project, but the contractor did not resume work and ultimately the contract was cancelled," Jammu Mayor Chander Mohan Gupta told PTI.

The project was launched in 2009 by the Congress-NC government.

The project was marred by delays, missing as many as six deadlines, before work came to a standstill in 2018.

The prestigious project has seen the passage of two coalition governments -- Congress-NC and PDP-BJP -- drawing flak from the locals.

The state government has spent more than Rs 57 crore on the project in the past decade, after its foundation stone was laid by the then Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on December 5, 2009, Gupta said.

After missing the first target date in 2012, the contractor missed five other deadlines in 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018, when the contractor stopped work, he said.

The final cost of the revised plan shall be finalised after design inputs from experts of IIT Roorkee, he said.

As per the project plan, an auto-mechanical barrage would be constructed on river Tawi, one kilometre downstream of main Tawi bridge. This will help create an artificial lake at Belicharana.

The 1,500-metre-long and 600-metre-wide artificial lake, a first-of-its-kind here, will give a new dimension to tourism in Jammu city, officials said.

In phase-II of the project, beautification and embankment works are to be taken up under Tawi River Front Development Project for which an MoU has already been signed by Jammu Development Authority (JDA) with the Sabarmati River Front Development Corporation (SRFDC). A detailed project report has been prepared in this regard.

As part of the beautification project, a park was inaugurated by former Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed in the area in 2015.