Daijiworld Media Network – Mangalore (SP)
Mangalore, Jun 16: The officials of Karnataka Urban Development and Coastal Environment Management Project (KUDCEMP) were at the receiving end at the progress review meeting pertaining to the underground drainage project in the city, held on Tuesday June 15. The corporators were at loggerheads with KUDCEMP for not completing the allotted project on time, and creating problems for the citizens of the city with their incomplete works in various parts of the city. The project is funded by Asian Development Bank.
The meeting was convened in the meeting hall of the city corporation. KUDCEMP superintending engineer, Maninarayan, giving details of the project, said that 302 kms of the undrground drainage has been completed at a cost of Rs 163.89 crore, and that only 53 kms of drainage remains to be completed. Giving reasons for the delay, he held the geographical and climatic conditions of the region, delaying tactics employed by the contractors, and cancellation of five tenders in 2007, as well as defective designing and estimates, responsible for persistent delays.
He said that the works will now begin only after monsoon months, and expressed the confidence to complete all the works by March next. “By December this year, 11 out of 14 packages will be concluded, and the remaining three packages will be executed by March,” he explained.
The participants expressed their dissent at the non-repairing of the roads dug for building the drainage, converting the roads into muddy fields, non-filling of trenches that are now posing danger, and the release of effluents from the deep pits into the nearby streams. They also criticized KUDCEMP for poor quality of works. Maninarayan promised to address these grievances, saying that some defects are natural for a projects of such magnitude.
The corporators criticized some contractors executing KUDCEMP works for careless blasting of rocks and behaving arrogantly with the citizens and corporators when confronted. However, most of the corporators appreciated superintending engineer, Maninarayan, for his able handling of the problems, and the way he deals with them when approached.
City mayor, Rajani Dugganna, MLA, Yogish Bhat, deputy mayor, Rajendra, and corporation commissioner, Dr K N Vijayaprakash, were present.