‘Contractors in no hurry’

- Locals allege that Mission Bhagiratha works are going on at a snail’s pace
- They feel it will take another two years to complete the works

Adilabad: Despite the officers running after them, the contractors apparently not serious about completing the works of Mission Bhagiratha on time. Hence the works like construction of intake wells at SRSP project, Bhainsa, Yellampalli, Komuram Bheem and Kadem projects are going on a slow pace. Even half of the works are not yet executed. If the same trend continues, it will take at least one more year to meet targets of the drinking water scheme.

The works are targeted to quench the thirst of people in Adilabad, Nirmal, Mancherial and Komram Bheem-Asifabad districts.

A tribal leader, Yedama Bujju, said that the inordinate delay is a matter of concern for all.

To quench the thirst of four districts, carved out of the erstwhile Adilabad district, a 6025-km-long pipeline is needed to be laid. But, pipelines for a length of 3,700 km have been laid so far.

Out of total 863 villages, pipelines are yet to be laid in 50 per cent of the villages. The internal pipelines laid in villages of Asifabad district are of substandard quality. The officials are also worried over the tardy progress. Similarly, works related to the construction of an overhead service reservoir are at a primitive stage. A concerned citizen, Kadimeta Madhu, was angry on the government that it would take two more years to complete the works if the current pace of execution is any indication and demanded to step up the pace.

According to Mission Bhagiratha Superintending Engineer Prabhakar Reddy, the target is to complete the works in 400 habitats in October, 1,200 in November and 2,000 in December this year. But the people have their own doubts about meeting the targets.

As part of the project works, indiscriminate digging is going on with workers throwing the debris on the roadside causing inconvenience to the commuters. At Ichchoda, deep pits were dig along the national highway but these pits are not being filled after the pipelines were laid.

At Luxettipet, Bhainsa and Mudhole, people are facing inconvenience as old drinking water supply pipelines were damaged because of indiscriminate digging to lay pipelines.

At Neradigonda, a girl student died after falling in a ditch dug as part of Mission Bhagiratha project. But, it seems that the contractors executing the works have not learn any lesson.

Complaints are pouring in regarding the works executed like using substandard pipelines, broken pipelines and pipelines with holes.

Krishna Murthy of Mancherial, said the officials were bothered neither to check the quality nor completion of the works. The intake well works executed at SRSP project were stated to be of highly substandard in nature. Similarly, the OHSR tank built at Mategoan was not up to the mark as the tank wall showed signs of cracks.

Satyanarayana, a resident of Nirmal, alleged that quality was thrown to winds because of the alleged nexus between contractors and politicians.

The rules stipulate that the pipeline works should not cause damage to the standing crops. The farmers were worried over the contractors’ style of functioning as the latter are bent on getting the pipelines laid in spite of damage causing to the standing crops.

Even after all this, the officials are sticking to their version of completing the works by deadline.

Thotla Chinna Anjaiah