Srinagar, March 07: Health & Medical Education Department has informed Jammu and Kashmir Government that a committee report has deemed the GMC Handwara site untenable due to a high risk of flooding following which the process for finalizing its relocation is currently underway.
The information was provided by the Minister of Health and Medical Education in the Legislative Assembly in response to a starred question raised by MLA Handwara constituency, Sajad Gani Lone regarding the GMC‘s relocation status and related issues.
The MLA inquired about the reasons for abandoning the work on Handwara Medical College, to which the government responded that unprecedented floods had occurred recently on March 29, 2024, April 16, 2024, and April 28, 2024.
“During these incidents, the maximum flood levels recorded were 0.6m, 3.8m, and 4.0m above Ground Level (GL) at the right bank of Nallah Pohru, the construction site for the New GMC & Hostels for GMC Handwara,” the reply said.
The house was informed that a committee headed by the Engineer-in-Chief, PW (R&B) Department reported the present site is non-tenable due to the high risk of flooding, which would put students, faculty, and infrastructure at risk.
Later, Engineer-in-Chief, PW Department (Chairman of the Committee), in subsequent meetings, reiterated that the present site is not in a position to be taken forward and the proposed flood protection measures would not mitigate the risk of flooding, making it impossible to proceed with construction at the current site.
Regarding the question on which date the said construction site got submerged in flood water the reply said flooding incidents were observed in 2024 on more than one occasion in and around the GMC Handwara site.
“Firstly, on 29th of March, followed by 14th/15th of April, and 28th/29th of April 2024, wherein the construction site was found inundated with floodwaters,” the reply said.
In response to another question regarding whether a decision has been made to shift the GMC to an alternate site, the reply stated: “Yes, based on the Technical Report of the Joint Committee headed by Engineer-in-Chief, PW Department, the present site is not tenable.”
Consequently, the General Administration Department issued Government Order No. 2090-JK (GAD) of 2024 regarding the shifting of the site.
In December, last year a committee headed by Divisional Commissioner, Kashmir was constituted to resolve the land issue for the relocation of GMC Handwara, which submitted its report on 10-01-2025 to GAD along with its recommendations of the committee.
“Based on the recommendations of the committee, the matter has now been taken up with the Agriculture Production Department for the finalization of alternate sites for relocating GMC Handwara,” the house was informed.
The government was informed that the Project for New GMC Handwara was sanctioned under the Centrally Sponsored Scheme “Establishment of New Medical Colleges Attached with District/Referral Hospitals (Phase III).” As such, the financial allocations for the project are governed by the relevant Financial Codes under the Single Nodal Account.
Earlier, the Ministry extended timelines for the project for one year, up to March 2025. However, the Ministry has been approached by the Jammu and Kashmir Chief Secretary for an extension of the timelines for the completion of GMC Handwara (Phase III) for two years up to March 2027.
