Secretary RDD reviews implementation of IWMP, construction of Panchayat Ghars under RGSA

Jammu:Secretary, Rural Development Department and Panchayati Raj, Sheetal Nanda, today convened a meeting to review progress on implementation of Integrated Watershed Management Projects (IWMP) besides construction and renovation of Panchayat Ghars under RGSA in Jammu and Kashmir.The meeting was attended by Director Rural Development Department, Kashmir, Qazi Sarwar, Director Panchayati Raj, CEO IWMP, Mohammad Rafi besides Director RDD, Jammu and ACDs of Jammu and Kashmir divisions participated via video conferencing.Deliberating on the importance of watershed management, Secretary stressed on timely completion of the ongoing projects and asked the officers and field functionaries to pace up their efforts to ensure that water resources are conserved and regenerated in the identified watershed areas of the Union Territory.She took a detailed review of watershed projects in all the districts of the UT and instructed the concerned officers to avoid 100 per cent concrete and cement works. “The aim of the proramme is to provide better water management besides rejuvenating the water bodies of the watershed areas by creating stone pitching works,” she added.CEO IWMP apprised the meeting that more than Rs. 13 crore have been released till date against 1282 completed IWMP works, generating a total of 20272 labour days.Secretary exhorted upon the Project Officers to complete the works approved in the last plan at the earliest to start with a new action plan.Taking a strong note of slow progress in releasing the payments against works done, Secretary asked the POs to ensure that payments be released to the beneficiaries within a span of 15 days. She also took a strong note of the complaints against Rural Engineering Wing (REW) and asked the Executive Engineers to regularly monitor quality of the works under execution in their respective areas.