SHIMLA: Expressing his concern over the inordinate delay in central assistance for channelization of Swan river which is the ambitious project of state government in Una district, chief minister Virbhadra Singh said that without the availability of funds, already completed work of Swan would face damage during floods if the embankments were not constructed.Total length of embankments was around 387.6 Kilometers and the total area to be reclaimed was around 7164 hectares. So far, only 162.36 kilometers of embankments and 2884 hectare area has been reclaimed.While presiding over the governing body meeting of Swan River Channelization Authority in Shimla, Virbhadra Singh directed the officials to write a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi with all details and in reference to the agreement for releasing the central share.He said that Union Ministry for Water Resources had cleared a project of about Rs 922.485 crore for the channelization of all tributaries of Swan river. He said that project was funded under 70:30 scheme and as per agreement union ministry was to contribute 70 per cent share to the project while 30 per cent share was of state government.He said that in the first year, cost of project was Rs 330 crore, out which the state government was to contribute Rs 99 crore while remaining 231 crore was to be contributed by the Union ministry for Water Resources. He said that in 2013-14, central assistance of Rs 5.551 crore was released.He said in 2014-15, the union ministry released Rs 107 crore for the project whereas in the year 2015-16 and 2016-17, union government released Rs 26.00 and Rs 50 crore respectively. He said in total, Rs 189.351 crore has been released by the Union ministry since commissioning of the project. He said that state government by taking loan from NABARD and from its own resources has incurred an expenditure of Rs 276 crore till March this year.During the meeting Virbhadra Singh was briefed by officials that as work on 24 tributaries of Swan was underway, additional Rs 50 crore is required to complete the ongoing work of these tributaries. They said that state government has contributed more than 30 percent and has done correspondence with the centre for releasing its share 11 times since August, 2015.Virbhadra Singh said that he himself has written thrice to secretary, Union ministry of water resources. Besides this, correspondence has been made at the level of chief secretary and secretary, IPH for eight times. The Government of India, drifting away from the agreement has been citing reasons that under Flood Management Protection works, the state government was to manage from its own resources as recommended by 14th Finance Commission, he added.He also directed the officials to ensure a complete ban on mining on Chaunch river in Kangra district so that there was no threat to life and property in case the floods hit the area.

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