KOCHI: It seems Chellanam residents will have to brave the fury of the sea for yet another monsoon.
For, the Irrigation Department, which has been tasked with inviting tenders and awarding the work on setting up a geotube seawall along the Chellanam coast, is yet to get any contractor interested in the project.
An Irrigation Department engineer said the first two short tenders floated by the department did not fine any takers, forcing it to go for negotiated quotations.“The step was taken after an emergency meeting of the authorities concerned. The situation at Chellanam needs to be solved at the earliest. As per the High Court’s interim order, the department can take the work forward,” said the officer.
While a section of people continue the agitation demanding the completion of the seawall’s construction at Chellanam, Fr John Kandathiparambil, who had been at the forefront of the protests seeking a seawall along the West Kochi coast, said, “We got information that the Irrigation Department had zeroed in on a contractor. However, the amount the latter quoted is seemingly way higher than the `8 crore sanctioned by the government. So, the project allocation needs to be increased to invite tenders. As per the department, this has to be done at the Cabinet-level.”
However, the Cabinet meet on Wednesday did not take any decision on the matter. Meanwhile, Fr John said people were using the seawall issue for political gains.“With panchayat elections around the corner, many people are staging agitations to get the residents’ attention and their votes,” he said.
Ex-contractor moves High Court
Mohammed Niyas, the previous contractor of the seawall project, has approached the High Court against wrongful termination of contract and non-payment of bills for the work done. Shajeel K P, Niyas’ supervisor, alleged their contract was terminated after two months, despite the High Court asking the authorities concerned to give them six months.“The High Court order clearly mentioned that the contractor was to be given six months time (after the previous deadlines expired). However, they terminated it after two months and re-tendered the project,” Shajeel alleged.
Shajeel alleged that none had any know-how of setting up a geotube seawall.“Around 60,000 cubic meters of sand is required. However, the department did not conduct any hydrographic survey to check the availability of sand. Also, a pre-dredging survey is must for such projects,” he said.The Irrigation Department engineer said the Niyas’ contract was terminated considering the ‘risk and cost’ factor. “It was found the contractor was seriously lagging behind in carrying out the work,” said the engineer.
Timeline of Chellanam geotube work
December 2017: District administration decides to install geotube seawalls at Chellanam. Sets April 2018 as the deadline
Jan 2018: Government sanctions I8 crore for the project
June 2018: Site handed over to the contractor
Feb 2019: Deadline extended
April 2019: New deadline. Project yet to take off
July 2019: High Court grants 6-month extension
Nov 2, 2019: Work stopped due to legal dispute
Jan 2020: Contractor removed. New tender issued
Feb 2020: Two consecutive tenders fail to find takers