Water project delay drains Rs 132 crore

SHILLONG: The CAG report 2017-18 has revealed that the delay in the completion of Phase III of the Greater Shillong Water Supply Scheme has led to an unfruitful expenditure of Rs 131.84 crore.
The report says failure to implement reforms as per the JNNURM timeline has also led to deduction of Rs 17.41 crore.
The project involved works such as construction of two stages of raw water pumping system, augmentation of capacity of the existing water treatment plant and others. The CAG report says work has not been completed despite incurring expenditure of Rs 132.65 crore and extension of deadlines by more than five years.
The secretary of MUDA said in November 2017 that the state government had released fund for the project and the overall progress was 70 per cent.
The Centre approved the third phase of the project in October 2008 at a cost of Rs 193.50 crore and the objective was to create infrastructure to supply an additional 24 million litres of water to the projected population of the Shillong urban agglomeration from 2011 to 2041.