TURA, Oct 21: The state government and the Urban Affairs department were on Saturday lambasted by former South Tura MLA John Leslee K Sangma who, based on an RTI application, has called the project a waste of money and a way to cause inconvenience to the residents of the town.
It has been revealed that the concerned department in 2020 tasked one MSL Jangid IV and Cee Cee Construction, a Noida-based company, with implementation of the project in Tura.
The beautification project, the cost of which stands at Rs 12.45 crore, has been named ‘Beautification of Tura Junction’ by the Urban Affairs department.
“From the information gathered through RTI, it is learned that this project was prepared by a firm from outside the state with no knowledge of the topography of the town or the difficulty being faced by the people of Tura,” said Leslee in a statement on Saturday.
He alleged that the government, without studying the feasibility of the project, green-lighted the parameters of the proposed construction prepared by the agency and accused the officers of acting irresponsibly by simply giving their seal and signatures, allowing the contractor to start work.
“At present, the work is going on in full swing but in a negative direction from the view of public convenience and benefit. Costly flower pots costing Rs 7,474 each and electric posts costing Rs 99,332 each are being erected on the footpaths, obstructing the right of way of the pedestrians,” said Leslee.
“Tura has footpaths only on one side of the road which is hardly three-feet wide and the state government has taken away the rights of the citizens. The footpaths are being used to erect huge flower pots and electric posts in public utility space,” he added.
According to the RTI application, a total of 164 electric posts and 465 flower pots are going to be erected as part of the beautification project.
Asserting that one stretch of the newly constructed footpath is hardly one-and-half-feet wide, rendering it unfit for use by pedestrians, Lelsee said, “However it is adorned with structures with a sole purpose of siphoning public money. The most bizarre design is the intention to beautify Ringrey Junction with two rows for auto rickshaw parking, an office building, a plaza (normally used for public gathering) and an amphitheatre. All this is a space measuring 8 feet by 40 feet.”
The former MLA observed that the aforesaid design in an extremely small area was approved by the department, indicating that the project was bogus.
He felt that the approval was done by the department while keeping their eyes closed.
Demanding a thorough investigation into the alleged irregularities by the highest authority of the land, Leslee said that the project was in violation of the department’s vision of reducing pollution under the AMRUT mission that aims to create space for walking and cycling.
“A huge amount of public money is being misused and wasted without any benefit to the general public and this needs to be investigated,” the former MLA said.
