CHENNAI: Merely hours after the deadline for tender applications for the cut and cover drains at Chitlapakkam ended, workers turned up to dig the drains, leading residents to suspect foul play.
Chitlapakkam panchayat had floated tenders to construct stormwater drains by cut-and-cover method, in seven localities at Chitlapakkam, at a cost of 5 crore. The deadline for applications had been fixed at 3 pm on Wednesday. However, on Thursday morning workers turned up at Pamban Swamigal street, ready to dig the drains.
“The tender applications closed on Wednesday and work began early on Thursday, a government holiday. How could the Panchayat evaluate the applications and issue work orders within a span of a few hours on Wednesday,” asked R Balachander, a resident of Chitlapakkam and a member of ‘Chitlapakkam Rising’, a residents’ group.
In the cut and cover method for building stormwater drains, a trench is cut in the road for laying the pipes and is then covered by the excavated material after construction. A group of residents, stopped the work on the street after they found that the contractor did not have a copy of the work order with him.
“We have asked them to commence work after they showed us the work order. They said that they will return with the work order by 10 am on Friday. But, they have not shown up for work since,” said Sunil Jayaram of Chitlapakkam Rising.
The cut and cover drains at Chitlapakkam is being carried out as two separate projects — under the PWD at an estimated project cost of `12 crore and the Chitlapakkam Panchayat, at an estimated cost of 5 crore.
Under the cut and cover project taken up by the panchayat, `2 crore has been allocated for the work in Pamban Swamigal street, along with a crore for Maraimalai Adigal Street, a crore for Sokkanathar street, Bharathi street and Sethunarayanan street and a crore for the drain from Sethunarayanan street to Ramanan street.
While the cut and cover drain work undertaken by the PWD is carried out in the middle of the streets, the project undertaken by the panchayat is being carried out at the side of the streets, said residents. While the drains constructed by the Public Works Department and panchayat are, according to the plan, supposed to meet at one point, it is not clear as to how the drain in the middle of the road and the other, on the side of the road will be connected.
“Another issue is that if residents on this side of the road are to get underground connection, they will have to break the cut and cover drain to do so,” said Sunil.When asked how the work order was issued in a matter of hours, a panchayat official said that the work which was to be started on Thursday was for a different project sanctioned by the district Collector and was not related to the tender that was closed on Wednesday.
‘Have copy of order’
When Express contacted the contractor, he said, “Since this work was to be carried out urgently, the orders were issued quickly. We have a copy of the work order but we could not show it because I was caught up with personal work.”