5 watershed projects completed in Valley, 23 being completed in Jammu

Five watershed development projects have been completed in Kashmir Valley out of 50 taken in hand. These are Surasyaar and Habal in Budgam district, Panzgam in Anantnag district, Chimmer in Kulgam district and Garoora in Bandipora district.
Similarly in Jammu province, 23 watershed development projects are coming up at a cost of Rs. 2.95 crore and are expected to be completed soon.
This was disclosed in a meeting of officers of Agriculture and Command Area Development departments presided over by the Minister for Agriculture, Mr. Ghulam Hassan Mir today. Minister of State for Agriculture, Mr. Javid Ahmad Dar, Principal Secretary, Agriculture, Mrs. Sonali Kumar, Directors Agriculture, Kashmir and Jammu, Directors Command Area Development, Kashmir and Jammu and other officers were present in the meeting.
The meeting was told that nine centrally sponsored command area development projects are under execution in Kashmir at a cost of Rs. 140.65 crores. In addition, two state projects are under execution at a cost of Rs. 16.12 crores and two centrally sponsored projects are coming up in Ladakh. Among them two projects at Ahrabal and Brinji are expected to be completed by 2010.
In Jammu, the meeting was told, Ranbir canal development project is being developed at a cost of Rs. 98 crores which has so far benefited 2710 hectares of land. Similarly, Pratap canal is also coming up at a cost of Rs. 10.88 crores and Kashmir Kathua canal at a cost of Rs. 10.30 crore is nearing completion which has so far benefited 5853 hectares of land. Doda-Rajouri-Gool-Sangaldan Command Area development project at a cost of Rs. 10.88 crore covering 15 villages and Bani Command Area Development project at a cost of Rs. 63 lacs covering 14 villages are also coming up in Jammu, the meeting was informed.
Addressing the meeting, the Minister sought an action plan for early completion of ongoing watershed development and command area development projects and directed the concerned departments to submit monthly reports about the progress on the projects to him. He advised the Command Area Development department to include reclamation of land washed away by floods in their programme so that the same is re used for agricultural purposes.