Jammu, Feb 13: Minister for Jal Shakti, Forest, Ecology, Environment and Tribal Affairs, Javed Ahmed Rana on Friday stated that the government and the opposition MLAs tackled recent natural calamity as joint responsibility while the Chief Minister demonstrated exemplary leadership in effective crisis management.
“The government’s response to the devastating floods of August-September 2025 reflected effective crisis management with restoration works commencing within 24 hours,” he said, while winding up the discussion on the demands for grants of departments under his charge.
Rana stated that for long-term sustainability, a high-level inter-departmental committee was being constituted to ensure water security and effective flood control.
“The State Specific Action Plan (SSAP) on water, prepared under the National Water Mission with technical support from NIH Roorkee and IIT Jammu, has received draft approval from the union government and is in the final stage of approval,” he said.
Rana said that the feedback and recommendations would form the basis for further strengthening the policy decisions, ensuring effective execution and impactful implementation of projects on the ground.
With regard to forest department, the Minister said that for the fiscal 2026–27, an enhanced allocation of Rs 242 Cr has been proposed, reflecting strong commitment towards conservation and sustainable development. He underlined that under UT Capex 2025–26, Rs 168.18 Cr have been approved, of which Rs 141.14 crore have been released and works worth Rs 56.97 crore have already been executed. He added that against the approved allocations of Rs 175.06 crore under CAMPA, Rs 155.14 crore have been released.
Rana asserted that significant progress has been made in forest demarcation with 1.85 lakh boundary pillars installed. Besides, digitization of forest boundaries using CORS-enabled GNSS technology has positioned J&K as a pioneer in advanced forest governance.
Maintaining that wetland conservation remains a priority with 260 wetlands mapped using GIS and remote sensing, the Forest Minister said that revival of Wular Lake, a Ramsar site, with 5 sq km dredged and 2,952 hectares afforested, has benefitted over 5,200 fishermen.
He highlighted that wildlife conservation measures have covered 11.5 percent of the UT’s area, with over 3,002 animals rescued and over Rs 214 Cr compensation disbursed for human-wildlife conflict.
The Minister said that J&K continues to remain carbon positive, with air quality improvement measures resulting in PM10 reduction of 18.5 percent in Jammu and 41.3 percent in Srinagar.
Rana informed that the local communities have been empowered and 171 sale depots established under Sustainable Collection and Utilization of NTFP Policy, notified in 2022. He added that with this 7100 families had been benefitted thereby generating an income of 792.32 lakh.
He informed that firewood and timber supply mechanisms have been strengthened with transparency through e-auctions and digital systems with 8.69 lakh quintal of free fodder distributed in the past five years.
He said that Pollution Control Committee has integrated all services into a single-window system and auto-renewal for green category industries. He added that third-party certification frameworks have reduced procedural delays while maintaining environmental safeguards.
Regarding recruitment and promotion processes, he said that the same has been fast-tracked, with multiple Departmental Promotion Committees (DPCs) meetings convened and significant number of promotions finalized.
He maintained that in the coming year, the government will intensify efforts to further strengthen the forest conservation, biodiversity protection and eco-tourism across Jammu and Kashmir.
On grants for Public Health Engineering Department, Rana said that government was committed to provide drinking water to every rural household in Jammu & Kashmir through convergence of Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM), NABARD, and UT Capex resources.
He asserted that under JJM, the government was committed towards ensuring universal Functional Household Tap Connections (FHTCs), adding that 15.64 lakh households have already been provided tap water supply and remaining will be covered through completion of ongoing schemes and upgradation of existing connections.
He mentioned that Union Finance Minister has announced the extension of JJM till December 2028 with enhanced outlay and the Omar government is committed to complete the mission within the extended timeline.
He informed that two major water supply projects are underway to ensure uninterrupted supply to AIIMS Awantipora and AIIMS Vijaypur. The Rs 54 crore water supply scheme for AIIMS Awantipora is being implemented in two phases, with Phase-I completed and Phase-II slated for completion in 2026–27. The scheme for AIIMS Vijaypur has achieved 95 percent physical progress, he added.
He informed that all vacant posts of Chief Engineers are being filled up, Superintending Engineer posts have been fully staffed in April 2025 and a dedicated Design, Inspection and Quality Control (DIQC) wing has been established.
Rana further said that two DPCs have been held, promoting 47 Junior Engineers besides 62 compassionate appointment orders have been issued in the past three years. Over 1,000 non-gazetted posts have been forwarded to JKSSB for recruitment, he added. Regarding Irrigation & Flood Control sector, the Minister announced a substantial enhancement in capital expenditure, with Capex for 2026–27 proposed at Rs 996 CR, marking a 62 percent increase over the revised allocation of Rs 612 Cr in the previous year.
He added that concerted efforts are underway to bring 3.96 lakh hectare under assured irrigation through major and minor irrigation projects being implemented under Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana.
He also highlighted that major flagship projects are nearing completion with Shahpur Kandi Dam Project in its final stage. The project is expected to provide irrigation benefits to over 32,000 hectare of land in Kathua and Samba districts.
The Minister said that the Tawi Barrage Project in Jammu, being executed at a cost of Rs 64 crore, has achieved about 90 percent physical progress.
Under the Comprehensive Flood Management Project of River Jhelum, the Minister stated that flood-carrying capacity between Sangam and Padshahibagh in Srinagar has been enhanced from 31,800 cusecs to 41,000 cusecs, significantly improving the flood safety. Further, under PMDP Phase-II (Part A), 31 bank protection works worth Rs 276.61 Cr are under execution, with 17 works already completed, he added.
He further said two regulatory gates at Hokersar wetland have been completed at a cost of 28.45 crore, aiding ecological restoration.
To address long-term flood risks, the Minister said that floodplain zoning measures are being implemented in line with recommendations of the Central Water Commission.
Under the UT Capex programme, the Minister said that over 1,000 irrigation and flood control works are presently under execution, of which, nearly 350 works have already been completed during 2025–26.
Regarding the grants for Tribal Affairs department, Javed Rana said that for 2026–27, the Tribal Affairs Department will focus on four key pillars; Education and Human Development, Livelihood and Economic Strengthening, Infrastructure and Migration Support besides Cultural Preservation and Institutional Strengthening.
To support the migratory tribes, seven transit accommodation units are under construction with completion of two while the rest are expected to be completed during 2026–27, benefiting over four lakh migratory tribal persons.
The Minister also said that cultural preservation and institutional strengthening remains a core focus of the Tribal Affairs Department, adding that Tribal Research Institute (TRI), Khimber, continues to function as a hub for research, documentation and policy support. He said that tribal youth will be trained as eco-guides, creating livelihoods while promoting sustainable tourism.
The Minister said that strategic collaboration has been initiated with IIT Jammu for entrepreneurship development, business planning, value addition, branding and technology adoption.
For effective implementation of the Forest Rights Act, the Tribal Affairs Department has been designated as the Nodal Department. An allocation of Rs 3.77 Cr has been proposed for establishment and operationalisation of FRA Cells in all districts, which will assist claimants and ensure timely disposal of claims, he said.
Later, the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly passed the grants worth Rs 3,24,177.48 Lakh for Public Health Engineering, Rs 1,52,482.05 lakh for Forest, Ecology and Environment, Rs 1,60,699.61 lakh for Irrigation and Flood Control and Rs 40,600.72 for Tribal Affairs Department.
The grants were passed through voice vote after the members withdrew their cut motions following the Minister’s assurance to address all their issues.
