Tura, Dec 22: The AITC MLA of Rajabala, Dr Mizanur Rehman Kazi along with officials from the PHE and locals yesterday paid a visit to various sites where an upcoming Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) project is being undertaken though with some delay.
Earlier Dr Kazi had raised the matter of inferior quality construction of the Nekikona JJM augmentation project and sought a joint visit from PHE officials. Yesterday, Dec 21, he was joined in the site visit by the ACE, SE, EE and SDO of the area along with complainants from the area. The contractor, BSC Infra Pvt Ltd was also a part of the visit.
The entourage first visited the village of Batapara where though pipelines have been partially laid no household connections have been set up. One of the leaders of the village, Enoch Sangma questioned the science of the water reservoir which he said was lower than the households that it was supposed to cater to.
“How will water flow from a lower to higher region if it is only using gravity. We are not really hopeful that water will ever reach us in this situation and have raised the matter with the authorities with no response,” said Enoch.
The next visit was to the main project site where a reservoir, pumping station, purification process along with pipelines are being set up. This major scheme is expected to cater to residents of 26 villages in the plain belt and is one of the major projects in the area. This main project site has been the bone of contention over the fact that construction has been delayed and become overdue.
A BSC Infra representative explained that the reason for the delay was land acquisition for the main reservoir as the area falls inside the premises of the local Church.
“We had to move the main storage tank that will house over 8 lakh litres of water for distribution due to objections from villagers. The project had specified a 13 lakh litre tank though now we will have to adjust and send water directly through pipes as there is not enough space,” said the representative.
The total cost of the project exceeds Rs 61 crores.
He added that the pipeline laying had been delayed due to objections from a local NGO and has now been resolved. The main storage tank, company officials added, would be completed within a month and the entire project as quickly as humanly possible.
Locals however raised the matter of the source of water, which is a nearby stream. The project is expected to draw water from this source though locals said the stream runs dry in the months of Mar-Apr so the dream of seamless water connection to their homes will only be a pipe dream.
PHE officials added that the situation was similar in almost parts of Garo Hills as water sources were drying up due to deforestation and jhumming but promised that the project would be completed within a short span despite the enormity of the task at hand.
The third place that was visited was the subsidiary tank that is being set up at the village of Nekikona where locals stated that the quality of work being done was substandard and the tanks being built may not last. One local chirped that there was no need to fear a tank burst as water would not even reach the tanks.
Interestingly many locals pointed out that on the JJM website their names have been entered as having received tap water in the data though in reality not even one household has had a tap connected.
PHE officials stated that this could be due to an error on the part of the entry keepers though the explanation was rubbished by those that were present.
“We can understand if the National Information Centre (NIC) makes one-two wrong entries but thousands of beneficiaries? Being a headman, I was not even consulted on the matter as no tap connections have been provided to anyone. We can’t believe this to be a case of human error,” said Garodubi resident, IH Choudhury.
Meanwhile following the visit the local MLA questioned the logic behind the project stating it seemed destined to fail.
“How will they provide water to so many households through such a small set up and a stream that dries up during the summer months? We have spoken to the contractor who has assured that their end of the bargain (project completion) would be done soon. However, from what we have seen, there should have been more head put into developing the project to ensure water supply was not stopped,” felt Dr Kazi.
He further felt that an inquiry into why households without any tap connection in reality that were ‘erroneously’ entered into the system needed a proper investigation.