Srinagar: At the onset of winter, the Jammu and Kashmir government has set three months’ deadline for completion of “languishing projects”, a goal that the government has rarely achieved, with winter months often cited as reason for the delay.
March 31 is the last day for them to complete the languishing projects in this fiscal year, the government has declared, or else the projects will be dropped from the list.
The decision has been taken days after the government invited Expressions of Interest (EOI) from banks for lending Rs 1,500 crore at an interest rate of 8.5 percent. Road tax, water connection charges, taxes on petrol and diesel, and extraction of timber up to the “full permissible limit” – as much as 80 lakh cubic feet (cft) – will go towards repaying the amount, the government has committed.
According to the government, about 708 languishing projects have been identified, of which 592 are aimed to be completed within this financial year, i.e., by March 31. AK Mehta, chairman of the JKPCC that is managing these projects, expressed displeasure at the slow pace of work on the languishing projects.
“The chairman directed to forward a letter to all the administrative secretaries concerned regarding the slow pace of work on projects approved by the JKIDFC,” the communication issued by Mehta reads.
“The administrative secretaries of each department shall be conveyed to take necessary action for faster implementation of these projects and explain reasons for delay,” it added.
The J&K government is habitual of not finishing work in the fixed timeframe, the delay often attributed to the winter season. For instance, the Alestang project missed multiple deadlines, for which the Power Development Department cited reasons ranging from systemic inefficiencies to political unrest to bad weather. Similarly, work on the 2.4-kilometer Jahangir Chowk flyover, funded by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) at an estimated cost of Rs 359 crore, began in 2013 but missed several deadlines.

Junaid Nabi Bazaz