BERHAMPUR: The commissioning of the Rs 488 crore Janibili mega water supply project here has missed the deadline despite persistent efforts by Ganjam district administration. The Public Health and Engineering Organisation (PHEO) had set a deadline to bring water through 58 km long underground pipes from Janibili reservoir in Soroda to Berhampur by October and formally implement the project by November to tackle the crisis of drinking water here.
After Dakhinpur reservoir in 1905 and Rushikulya joint water supply project at Madhapur in 1980, Berhampur got third water supply project at Janibili in 2013 when Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik laid its foundation stone. Tender was floated in 2016 and the construction work was entrusted to Chennai-based M/s Larsen & Toubro (L&T). Though the company had targeted to complete the work by November 2018, it failed to meet the deadline due to several reasons including delay in road excavation permission from NHAI and land acquisition.
The project includes construction of intake well at Janibili, laying of 58-km pipeline from Janibili to Berhampur and a water treatment plant at Jagadalpur. L&T, which is executing the project, has already laid nearly 54 km. Laying of four km pipeline is yet to be completed due to land dispute. Though a division office was set up with an estimated cost of `80 crore from Odisha Urban Infrastructure Development Fund (OUIDF) to monitor the work in 2013, it failed to ensure timely completion of the project.
Apart from 58-km stretch, the L&T will also lay pipeline of 235 km in the Silk City to supply water to the households. But so far pipelines have been laid on only 170 km stretch. While 70 per cent work on the intake well has been completed, over bridge construction is yet to be started. Similarly, construction of treatment plant is lagging behind.
Recently, the Chief Minister expressed his displeasure over the issue and directed the Housing and Urban Development (H&UD) department to take up the matter with the L&T for timely construction of the project and supply water to Berhampur by January 2019.