Srinagar, Oct 30: The government on Thursday said that extensive dredging and desilting works have been carried out across Kashmir and Jammu to prevent floods, with major focus on the Jhelum and Tawi rivers.
Responding to a legislator’s query in the Assembly, the government said the (I&FC) Department has dredged 2.85 lakh cubic meters of material from the Sopore-Baramulla Outfall Channel over the past two years. It said that around 60,000 cubic metres of silt have also been removed from various canals across Kashmir during the current irrigation season.
Under the Flood Management Programme (Phase-I) of the Prime Minister’s Development Package (PMDP), dredging was undertaken in the Srinagar and Baramulla reaches of River Jhelum to enhance its carrying capacity, involving 14.27 lakh cubic meters of earthwork.
The department said desilting is carried out every year on the Ranbir Canal and the Tawi Canal in Jammu.
The Central Water and Power Research Station (CWPRS), in its 2018 flood routing study, concluded that dredging the Jhelum between Sangam and Asham would not serve flood mitigation unless supported by hydraulic model studies.
The study indicated that floodwaters would reach Srinagar faster if dredging were done in this stretch, reducing response time during floods.
The report also noted bed degradation at Sangam due to local sand mining and insufficient silt deposition. It cautioned that continued dredging without natural sediment replacement could strain existing structures and fail to achieve flood mitigation goals—(KNO)
