Strengthening disaster management mechanism
By: Ibni Maqbool
Srinagar, July 11: The Government of Jammu & Kashmir and Union Finance Ministry would finalise an assessment in March next year about the funds which would remain unutilised from the World Bank’s Rs 1500 crore project for reconstruction of infrastructure damaged by 2014 floods and strengthening the disaster management mechanism in the Union Territory.
Documents accessed by The Precious Kashmir lay bare that as per its agreed action plan with the Bank, the Project Implementation Unit of Jhelum -Tawi Flood Recovery Project- and the Department of Economic Affairs(DEA) of Union Finance Ministry would carry out an assessment about unutilized funds of the project before requesting the multilateral financial institution to cancel them.”
“ GoJK and DEA to finalize an assessment by March 31, 2022 of the likely savings under the credit (the funds that would potentially remain unutilized by December 31, 2022) factoring in the implementation progress, contract variations and exchange rate variations,” read the document.
According to the document, J&K government would submit a request through DEA for cancellation of the identified savings under the credit by April 15, 2022.
The action plan also reveals that J&K government would share, by July 15, 2021, an updated status of cumulative number and value of contracts awarded as of June 30,2021.
“No new contracts to be procured and/or awarded thereafter for financing under the credit,” the document states.
The agreed action plan between PIU and World Bank also states that at least 60 percent of the awarded contracts shall be physically completed by May 31, 2022.
As already reported by this newspaper, the World Bank has extended the deadline of the project by one more year.
The Rs 1500 crore project was sanctioned in 2015 after a team of WB visited the State’s flood-affected areas to carry out a multi-sectoral assessment report of the damages and needs.
