KOCHI: Miseries of Chellanam residents and fishermen seem to have no end. After the unsuccessful attempt to lay geo-tubes, the residents pinned their hopes on geo bags as a temporary relief from the raging sea waves. However, the prolonged delay in the work is hardly helping the cause.
The residents accuse the Irrigation Department of a callous approach in completing the work which must have been done with immediate effect.
“The acute shortage of equipment is evident in the pace of the whole work. Though people from many associations and NGOs are voluntarily pouring in for support, the lack of planning and coordination from the Irrigation Department is slowing down the process,” said Dalfin T A, member of the Chellanam Theeradesha Samrakshana Samithi.
The residents are also apprehensive about the effectiveness of the work due to the lack of coordinated efforts from the department. “Bazar, the most-affected area of sea attack, has seen only the partial completion of the temporary work. Instead of completing an area's work, they are trying a half-baked approach by constantly changing the locations. Once the high tide comes, all these temporary works will be washed away,” said Dalfin.
According to many, the lack of funds and equipment proved to be the main impediment to maintaining the momentum of work. “When we ask them to operate simultaneously from multiple areas, the officials seem to be puzzled. Irrigation officials are not committed to completing the work in time. Even after getting funds, many of these officials are reluctant to spent as they fear audit objections,” said Xavier, a fisherman.
Irrigation Department officials refute the allegation and say they have sufficient resources. “We have enough manpower and equipment to carry out the works in the stipulated time. As our stitching machines are regularly becoming non-functional, we are manually stitching the bags. Though we have requested for more funds from the District Disaster Management Authority (DDMA), we are yet to receive a positive response. We are now focusing on the Companypadi area as we have already laid a layer of bags in Bazar and Maruvakkad areas,” said K Radhakrishnan, executive engineer, Irrigation Department.
The sub-collector has clarified that the authority has regularly allocated funds on requests from the department. “The Irrigation Department had asked for an advance amount to purchase geo bags. We allocated `4.87 lakh to buy 3,000 bags. Later, they contacted us again for funds to settle the labour charge to avoid the discontinuation of the work and `2 lakh was given for that from the DDMA. We have done all these at a time when the authority is struggling with a lack of funds. Though the Irrigation Department has requested for `3 crore from the finance department, they are yet to receive it,” said P D Sheela Devi, Deputy Collector, DDMA.
CONTRACTOR TO MOVE HC
The now-defunct Chellanam geo tube project is getting murkier as the contractor has decided to move the Kerala High Court to challenge the Irrigation Department's move to terminate the contract. "The Irrigation Department has tried to paint us as the major culprit for not completing the geo tube project. Despite coming with sufficient machinery and manpower, we lost our valuable time and money. Actually, it is the department's responsibility to ensure sufficient sand for the project.
We had patiently requested them several times to find a solution for the shortage. We will be filing a case against the department officials in the High Court and a leading advocate from the Supreme Court will appear for contractor Mohammed Niyas," said K P Shajeel, supervisor, geo tube project.