J&K needs Rs 6,000 cr for infrastructure

Mangalore Today News Network

New Delhi, Sep 15, 2014 DHNS:  Jammu and Kashmir has suffered massive damage to its public infrastructure due to the worst floods it has faced in more than a century and officials say that the state may need at least Rs 6,000 crore to rebuild the same.

Over one lakh people remained marooned as rain returned to the Valley, hampering rescue operations for some time on Sunday.

Even a conservative estimate of the damage to public infrastructure like bridges, roads, hospitals and other government buildings puts the figure at between Rs 5,000 crore and Rs 6,000 crore, said Vinod Kaul, secretary to the state government’s revenue, relief and rehabilitation department.

Delhi-based Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham) has assessed that immediate loss to the state is about Rs 5,400 crore-5,700 crore.

It exceeded 10 per cent of the state’s gross domestic product, with heavy damages to trade, hotels, restaurants, horticulture and handicraft.

Moreover, basic infrastructure like power, railways and communication were thrown out of gear, adversely impacting the economics, the industry body said in its initial estimates based on inputs from its state constituencies.

The total loss is estimated to be in the range of Rs 2,630 crore for hotels, trade, agriculture-horticulture, roads and bridges in the Jammu and Kashmir regions of the state.

The loss to railways and the power and communication sectors in the hilly terrains would be around Rs 2,700-3,000 crore, said the Assocham estimate.

“These are initial estimates of the loss. The real loss to the Jammu and Kashmir economy will be much higher since the impact of such calamities are long-drawn and it takes a long time before the physical infrastructure is restored,” Assocham secretary general D S Rawat said while releasing the estimates here on Sunday.

The biggest worry, Rawat said, was the shattering of confidence among the tourists and it would take a long time and efforts to bring back the tourists to the state.

The armed forces so far have rescued 1,84,000 people — many of them tourists from India and abroad — but lakhs are still trapped. Heavy duty suction pumps are being brought to the Valley to remove water and preventive actions are being taken to avoid outbreak of any disease.

Rawat said, the other Himalayan state of Uttarakhand that witnessed unprecedented flood fury last year, is yet to recover from the shocks.

Jammu and Kashmir’s economy stands at Rs 45,399 crore in 2013-14 in which agriculture accounts for 20 per cent of the GDP while industry and mining contribute to about 23.5 per cent. The service sector that includes hotels made up the remaining 56.5 per cent. In 2013-14, trade, hotels and restaurant services registered a turnover of close to Rs 3,800 crore.

The September-November season tourist inflow, both from India and abroad, is severely affected as is being witnessed by large scale cancellations.

While cancellations for airlines and hotels are nearly 100 per cent up to October 15, those who had booked for winter are watching the situation, feedback from Assocham travel constituents indicated. September end to November is the peak season for domestic travellers to explore the beauties of Jammu and Kashmir.