Pure Water Supply In J&K Remains A Pipedream Amid Probe Into JJM 'Irregularities'

A crunch of funds has resulted in the suspension of water supply projects in Jammu and Kashmir, with a probe currently underway by a House Committee of the Legislative Assembly over allegations of massive irregularities in the execution of works in the Union Territory.

The House Committee was constituted after several MLAs raised issues related to irregularities in the execution of water supply schemes. Due to the ongoing probe, funding has remained suspended for several schemes taken up under the Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM), which has also affected the supply of water to the connected areas. Under the mission programme, piped water supply infrastructure was to be developed with central assistance.

However, officials of the Jal Shakti department and MLAs from both the ruling and opposition parties said that work has remained suspended since the probe was ordered by Assembly Speaker Abdul Rahim Rather in March last year.

House Committee chairperson Hasnain Masoodi said that the Jal Shakti department has executed projects worth over ₹7,000 crore and that they were looking into allegations of substandard work. “The Jal Jeevan Mission is worth over ₹13,000 crore, and nearly ₹6,000 crore has not been released by the Central government as of now. There are around 3,300 schemes that have been taken up under the mission,” he said.

Technical Officer of the Jal Shakti department, Sajid Mushtaq, said that while there were allegations of substandard execution of works in the Jammu region, funding has remained suspended in Kashmir as well.

MLAs said that even the water supply schemes could not be made operational due to delays in the release of payments to contractors.

BJP MLA Devender Kumar Manyal said that the House Committee is looking into allegations, including poor execution of works, particularly the use of substandard pipes in far-flung areas of Jammu and Kashmir.

“Due to the probe, some of the works that were earlier taken up remain incomplete. Some water supply schemes that were completed could not be run as contractors have not received payments to hire labour. This has affected the supply of water to several areas,” he said. Manyal also noted that there were allegations that contractors had outsourced work, resulting in poor execution.

BJP’s Bhaderwah MLA Dilip Singh Parihar said that work remains suspended on over 350 schemes in his constituency, including the construction of filtration plants meant to provide safe drinking water to residents. “Due to the probe, work on the projects has remained suspended after funding was stopped. Earlier in the Assembly, we had sought that the probe be carried out only in areas where there were strong instances of substandard work, so that areas where norms were not violated would remain unaffected,” he said.

NC’s Chadoora MLA Ali Mohammad Dar, a member of the Legislative Assembly’s House Committee, said that officials had not followed proper procedures in the utilisation of funds under the scheme. “We had a meeting of the House Committee to review the works that had been undertaken. However, it was found that officials were also reporting a shortage of funds even when funds were available,” he said.

The House Committee is likely to submit its findings to the Legislative Assembly within a month after undertaking spot visits to areas where complaints of poor workmanship have been received. A probe remains underway into the use of High-Density Polyethylene pipes instead of Galvanised Iron pipes, some of which have broken in certain areas, Masoodi said.

“We have also recorded the statement of former IAS officer Ashok Parmar, who was a whistle-blower in the case and has alleged irregularities in the execution of works. The report will be finalised within a month. We are also planning site visits in areas of Rajouri and Poonch, from where complaints of poor execution have emerged. The report will then be framed and submitted to the Legislative Assembly,” he said.

A Jal Shakti department official working in the border district of Kupwara said that several schemes were executed in the area, including those connected to filtration plants, but funding had been slow even before the probe was initiated by the Legislative Assembly.

“Now the funding has been completely stopped. It had remained slow for nearly six months prior to the probe launched by the Legislative Assembly,” the official added.