By Our Reporter
SHILLONG, March 23: TMC State president and MLA from Nonthymmai, Charles Pyngrope on Thursday questioned the Minister in-charge PHE on the conflicting report of the status of water supply scheme in Pohkseh.
Responding to the TMC legislator’s query, the Minister in-charge PHE, Marcuise N Marak said that the progress stated is as per statement presented in the House. The amount sanctioned is Rs 85.8 lakh and the amount utilised till date is Rs 45.59 lakh, the minister said, while adding that the expected population to be benefitted by the project upon completion is 7,760.
He also stated that the provision for providing house service connections was not incorporated in the scheme as the household connections are being provided by the Dorbar Shnong.
Pyngrope pointed out that as per the minister’s reply, the work is in progress but the statement provided in the House states that the project is 100 per cent complete, and sought a clarification.
In an attempt to clear the air, Marcuise said the project has been completed but an issue emerged after the bore collapsed.
Pyngrope informed the House that the boring procedure was completed on March 25, 2022, and two days later, the bore collapsed which means the pump could not be utilised to draw water from the tube wells.
Pyngrope brought the delay in taking up the work to the attention of the House, and asked for an exact date from the minister when the project would be completed.
The PHE minister said the work has been taking time since the land could not be identified. According to him, the Dorbar and the PHE department have now identified the land and work would be completed very soon.
“…the land that has been identified is adjacent to the bore that collapsed and it is not that you have to acquire the land,” he pointed out, while adding that the progress has been slow.
Talking about the expenditure of the project, Pyngrope said that the sanctioned amount was Rs 85 lakh and it has taken five years to utilise 50 per cent of it, while there are only two months with the department to utilise the balance of 55 per cent of the sanction.
“I will not put a question but a suggestion that it is not a major job if gone through properly and if the minister would like to visit the site himself it will perhaps expedite the progress and ease the problem of water supply in that area after all even the Deputy Chief Minister is a resident of Pohkseh,” he said with a smile.
The minister in-charge promptly replied that the work will be executed as soon as possible.