Tug of war intensifies over JICA work as Cuttack municipality polls inch closer

Voters question Mayor candidates on completion of project which is dragging on for 9 years
Commuters drive through a road that was damaged during the JICA work | Express
Commuters drive through a road that was damaged during the JICA work | Express

CUTTACK: From an ambitious initiative that was aimed at resolving the drainage and sewerage problem of Cuttack, the JICA-funded Integrated Sanitation Improvement Project (ISIP) has turned into a nightmare for every resident in the city. The project has been dragging on for the last nine years.

When Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik laid the foundation for the Rs 750-crore project - being implemented by Odisha Water Supply and Sewerage Board (OWSSB) - in October 2012, he had fixed the deadline as July 2016. Locals hoped for redressal of drainage and water-logging issues that Cuttack faces even with the slightest of rain.

ISIP aimed at building a comprehensive sewerage system for collection and disposal of waste, has four components - underground sewerage line of 385 km length with 36 pumping stations, three sewage treatment plants, renovation of 17-km main storm water channel and construction of 3.6-km box drains.

Of the 385-km sewerage line, work on 14 km is yet to be over. Of 36 pumping stations, 26 have been completed. What’s worse is that of the proposed 3.6-km box drains, work on only 548 mtr has been finished so far.

Under the project, roads and drains are being abruptly dug up in every lane as a result of which, electrical and telephone cables snap many times causing inconvenience to people. The problems do not end here. Underground drinking water pipelines are damaged at many places thereby hampering supply in many parts of the city.

With the project moving at snail’s pace, discontentment is brewing among locals who are questioning both the corporator and Mayor candidates of the Cuttack Municipal Corporation (CMC) elections about its exact date of completion. The deadline has been revised twice - from July 2016 to September 2018 and then again to December 2022. The cost too escalated from Rs 750 crore to Rs 3,070 crore.

While the BJD is making futile attempts to convince people that the work is at completion stage, it has become a poll plank for Opposition BJP and Congress who blame the government and CMC for negligence and tardy pace of work.

“Even the Orissa High Court in January 23, 2020 had expressed strong dissatisfaction over the work by stating that there has been no visible progress even after seven years of foundation laying for the JICA-ISIP project. It had also reprimanded the authorities concerned for the slow progress,” said Giribala Behera, Mayor candidate of Congress. Her BJD counterpart Subhas Singh attributed the delay in the last two years to Covid-19 pandemic.

“Once the project is complete, people will no longer face water-logging,” he claimed. However, BJP candidate Sritam Das countered Singh by saying that the deadline has been changed twice and project cost escalated by 406 per cent due to gross negligence and malafide intention of officials concerned. “Uncertainty looms over the project. No one knows when this work will finally end,” he said.

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