Details

Category: NEWS WRAP UP

Published: 26 February 2015

 

JAMMU: The Governor, Mr. N.N. Vohra, has called for urgently removing all existing impediments in effectively harnessing the solar power potential in the State, particularly in the Ladakh region which has the potential to produce 111 GW. He has directed the Chief Secretary to take an urgent meeting to review, with all the stakeholders, and resolve all existing hurdles. The Governor was reviewing the status of Solar Power generation and development of related infrastructure which is being carried out in the State by the Science & Technology Department and Jammu and Kashmir Energy Development Agency (JAKEDA).

The State of J&K, with its huge tracts of barren lands in Ladakh, has the potential to produce 111 GW of solar power. The MNRE, Government of India and J&K government have signed an MOU for the development of two mega solar power projects in the Ladakh region of the State (2500 MW in Kargil and 5000 MW in Leh). Most of the energy generated in these solar parks would be evacuated to the Northern Grid through the presently under construction Leh- Srinagar transmission line.

Pertinent to mention here that the State Government has already issued Solar and Hydel Power policies for creating an attractive environment for the evacuation, purchase, wheeling and banking of electrical energy generated from Renewable Energy (RE) sources and encouraging investment by the private and public sector companies in power generation through RE. For the financial year 2015-16, JKSERC has fixed a target of 1.5% Solar Renewable Power Purchase Obligation (RPO) out of the total RPO of 7.5%.

The State Government has devised an incentive package for private power producers including permission to private players to set up solar, hydel, wind and thermal projects of any size in the State, tax holiday for power generation and distribution companies, easy availability of cheap loans, reduction of custom duty for the import of equipments, a favourable debt equity ratio and making competitive bidding mandatory.

Under the Jawahar Lal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM), installation and commissioning of SPPs of 15 and 20 KW capacity has been completed for 60 district and sub-district hospitals; a total of 100 Community Information Centres have been provided with Solar Power Plants (SPPs) of 7.5 and 10 KW. Besides, SPPs of 100 kW at Sheep Breeding Farm, Daksum, Anantnag, and of 10 KW at Panjbakhtar Temple, Jammu, have been installed and commissioned. Installation of 100 kW SPP at University of Kashmir; 150kW SPP at Sainik School Manasbal, Ganderbal, Kashmir; and 90 kW SPP at J&K Institute for Management & Public Administration, Sidhara, Jammu have also been completed.

Project proposals for providing SPPs of various capacities, with 752 KW and 900kW aggregate capacities for different locations of the State at an estimated cost of Rs. 20.30 crore and Rs. 22.50 crore, respectively, have been sanctioned by the MNRE.

The Raj Bhavan spokesperson disclosed that as per the Solar Power Policy approved by the State Cabinet, the grid connected Solar Power Projects are being promoted through IPP mode in the State. The Project Approval Committee has since allotted sites at Chhan Arorian and Logate Morh in Kathua district; and at Meen Chadgan in Samba district for setting up of grid connected SPPs in the State while a few more are in the pipeline. It was disclosed that MNRE has sanctioned 34,483 Solar Home Lighting Systems (SHLS) and 2,408 Solar Street Lights for 36 un-electrified villages and 263 hamlets of the State.

---

JAMMU: Mr. N.N. Vohra, Governor, has directed the Principal Secretary Finance, to have the Action Taken Reports (ATRs) expedited from the defaulting Departments and review them early. The Governor has also directed that a Standard Operation Procedure should be formulated for laying down a framework of ‘dos and donts’ for ensuring that work of the prescribed quality is carried out within the committed time frame and all the concerned departments take the required remedial measures well in time. The Governor was reviewing the action taken consequent to the physical inspection of 126 Development Projects by the Project Monitoring Cell.

The Governor has desired that based on the identified actionable points which have been brought out by the Monitoring Cell workshops should be organized, to begin at Srinagar and Jammu, to inform, educate and re-orient the concerned officers of the various departments which are involved with planning, implementation and monitoring. The Governor has observed that the holding of such workshops will help in capacity building and reducing mistakes commonly made during project execution. He has desired that, later, such programmes could also be organized at the District level.

It was disclosed that out of the 126 projects and schemes inspected, Action Taken Reports (ATRs) in respect of 49 projects have been received from various Departments. The projects inspected by the Monitoring Cell include 39 projects of PWD (R&B); 21 of Health & Medical Education department; 08 of Tourism and Culture department; 06 of Technical Education department; 04 of School Education department; 04 of Revenue department; 06 of PDD; 26 of PHE, I&FC department; 04 of Industries& Commerce department; 04 of Housing & Urban Development; 03 of Higher Education department; and 01 of Hospitality & Protocol department.

The inspections carried out by the Monitoring Cell have brought out certain generic issues in project implementation which include important failures like non-accordance of technical sanctions and Administrative Approvals; slow pace of work due to inadequate funding; cost and time overruns; land acquisition issues; delays in the shifting of utilities; court cases; delays on account of non- availability of Laboratories for testing samples at the construction sites; delay in grant of NOCs and clearances by various agencies; encroachments; diversion and misappropriation of funds; lack of co-ordination amongst agencies; issues relating to unsatisfactory quality of materials; improper boundary demarcation of site; poor workmanship; poor quality of construction and works; absence of proper mechanism for project monitoring; delay in the removal of private structures from the project land; lack of protection works for prevention of soil erosion; non utilization of the assets created; improper functional planning; maintenance issues; non-availability of proper approach roads and delays in the submission of Utilization Certificates. The Governor has asked the Principal Secretary Finance, Mr. B.B. Vyas to circulate the aforesaid defaults and aberrations to all Administrative Secretaries and ask them to particularly ensure against such failures in project formulation and project execution.

---

JAMMU: The Rural Technology Action Group (RuTAG) Chapter established at Jammu University has initiated work on various problems which were identified in the meeting held in December 2014 under the chairmanship of Shri N.N. Vohra, Governor J&K. Pertinent to recall that this meeting was specially attended by Dr. R. Chidambaram, eminent Scientist and Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India, who had, in his earlier discussions with the Governor, informed the latter about the existence of RuTAG.

The meeting was also attended by representatives of various State and Private Universities and other interested institutions. A number of proposals were identified, including the improvement of the Palki used for carrying pilgrims to the Mata Vaishno Devi ji, Shri Amarnathji Shrines; collection and disposal of mule dung along the tracks of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine; recharge of springs in the hilly areas of the State and development of a hybrid Bukhari for use in the colder regions of J&K.

The project for the improvement of Palki design will be jointly taken up by the IIT Delhi, IIT Bombay and National Institute for Industrial Engineering Mumbai. The project for improved disposal and biogas production from mule dung on the Yatra track of the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi ji Shrine will be jointly taken up by the Indian Council for Agriculture Research (ICAR), National Research Centre on Equines (NCRE)-Bikaner, National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI) and Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board.

The project for recharge of dried springs in Rajouri would be taken up by the Himalayan Environmental Studies and Conservation Organization (HESCO), Bhaba Atomic Research Centre (BARC), University of Jammu and Baba Ghulam Shah Badshah Univerity, Rajouri. The project for development of a Hybrid Bukhari will be jointly taken up by the IIT Delhi, DRDO and University of Kashmir. Governor has directed Dr. Manoj Dhar, Registrar, University of Jammu, and Coordinator of RuTAG Jammu Chapter to effectively coordinate with all the aforesaid institutions, which are involved in the time bound follow up action on all fronts.