Srinagar, Oct 5, KDC: The Jammu and Kashmir Jal Shakti Department spent Rs 2.24 crore on the Sumbal Canvas canal project, but the canal remained defunct since 2014, with a joint physical verification finding a 2-3 km stretch lying in slide-prone areas and blocked by heavy debris, the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has observed.
The CAG’s audit found that the project, listed as “Construction/Modernisation of Sumbal Canvas canal”, had a total cost of Rs 224.48 lakh and was divided among 58 contractors.
According to the audit, individual allotments ranged from Rs 0.066 lakh to Rs 12.10 lakh, with works allotted between October 2012 and August 2017.
Of the total amount, Rs 1.31 crore was booked against the canal between 2015-16 and 2017-18. This included Rs 1.09 crore on works such as construction of conduits, conductor/cunette cutting, supply channels, removal of debris and restoration of damaged sites.
Another Rs 21.73 lakh was spent on contingencies and material supply, the audit found.
The department subsequently submitted a fresh Detailed Project Report (DPR) amounting to Rs 60.38 lakh in December 2018 for construction and modernisation of the canal.
The proposal was submitted to the Chief Engineer/Government for sanction under NABARD, but approval was still awaited as of November 2023.
The shortcomings came to light during a Joint Physical Verification conducted in August 2023.
The CAG found that around 2-3 km of the canal was located in slide-prone areas and remained earthen with crate work. The stretch was also blocked by heavy debris.
The canal had remained defunct since 2014, which, according to the audit, “casts doubt on the authenticity of the works reported as executed.”
The audit further found that construction of a PMGSY road had altered the canal alignment over around 1,800 metres. The absence of a flume over the Nallah also meant that the canal could not function as intended.
The CAG concluded that the selection of a gravity-based irrigation project in a slide-prone area had rendered the entire Rs 2.24 crore expenditure idle, while farmers remained deprived of the intended benefits for more than a decade.
In its reply submitted in July 2025, the Jal Shakti Department stated that sanctioning projects without formal Administrative Approval had been a prevailing practice up to 2019.
The department also said relevant records were unavailable as the Directorate office had been inundated during the 2014 floods.
It further stated that the project had achieved 41.54 per cent financial progress up to March 2015, continued up to 2017-18 and that efforts were being made to revive the canal.
The department said a restoration DPR had been prepared in December 2018 and was awaiting approval.
The Sumbal Canal finding forms part of the CAG’s broader performance audit of NABARD-RIDF works executed by the Public Works and Jal Shakti departments.
In a separate finding, the audit noted that works under 13 of 20 selected I&FC projects had been split among 276 contractors at a total cost of Rs 21.14 crore instead of being awarded as single contracts, resulting in fragmented execution and monitoring.
