TURA: Leader of the Opposition Conrad K Sangma has ridiculed the recent claims of the Congress that over a crore of rupees has been sanctioned by the government to tide over the ongoing water crisis in Tura and its adjoining areas with the money meant for purchase of three new pumps and repair of old ones.
The opposition leader who visited the water source at Ganol river and the pumping station for Tura phase II at Edenbari on Tuesday informed The Shillong Times that the recent claims of Congress leader Zenith Sangma, younger brother of the chief minister, that the government has decided to release money to the tune of Rs. 1.93 Crore to overcome the water crisis taking place in Tura for the last one month is not true.
“The money was sanctioned way back in March last year for purchase of three new pumps and another 65 lakhs was released for repair of the old pumps but something happened which halted the tender process and the government did not act on the matter,” revealed Conrad Sangma.
Zenith Sangma had called a press conference in Tura congress bhawan last month to announce that the Meghalaya Government is sanctioning the money for purchase of new pumps and repair of old ones.
The opposition leader also disclosed that the intact points of the Ganol river and its tributaries which supply water for Tura have not dried up as claimed by authorities. The cause for the water shortage is because there are no new pumps to pull the water to the treatment plant at Bishop House complex in Tura.
“I visited the dam site and the injection point from where the water is channelized to the PHE reservoir. The water pressure is normal.
It is due to absence of pumps that the water cannot be pumped up to the treatment plant,” said Conrad Sangma.
Based on inputs received from a meeting with PHE officials he said that the only solution lies in the early arrival of the monsoon rains because it is going to take as long as six months for the new pumps to be put in place.
Pumps yet to be manufactured: The much anticipated breakthrough on the water crisis in Tura is only going to be a minor success with diversion of water from different streams to the three supply schemes of the town because the three new pumps will not be ready on time.
PHE officials informed the Leader of the Opposition, Conrad K Sangma, at a meeting with Maxwell Momin, Additional Chief Engineer of Garo Hills in Tura on Tuesday that the new pumps will take time because the last date for the tender is reportedly the end of this month and whoever gets the contract for supply of the three new pumps must do so within a timeframe of six months.