ROURKELA: Another tough summer may be in store for residents of Sundargarh district as the four mega rural piped water projects covering all its 17 blocks are moving at a snail’s pace. The four projects were taken up at a combined cost of Rs 2,328 crore with the lion’s share coming from Odisha Mineral Bearing Areas Development Corporation (OMBDAC) fund and the rest from District Mineral Foundation (DMF) fund. Rural Water Supply & Sanitation (RWSS) executive engineer (EE), Sundargarh division Hemanta Barik said a firm called Megha Engineering is implementing the project in Rajgangpur, Kutra and Hemgir blocks of Sundargarh sub-division at a cost of around Rs 390 crore.
Around 75-80 per cent work has been completed in Rajgangpur and Hemgir, while 90 per cent is over in Kutra. Megha Engineering had started the project more than two years back and it has been given a revised completion target of October 2023. Similarly, JMC Projects is executing the project in Sundargarh, Subdega, Lefripada, Bargaon, Balishankara and Tangarpali blocks.
The work was started one year ago with a completion target of October 2023 at a cost of around Rs 779 crore. Barik said JMC has completed around 30 per cent works and may seek extension. He attributed the delay to local disputes and technical issues including approval of designs and drawings. In Rourkela division of RWSS, Voltas Ltd has been implementing the mega piped water project in Kuanrmunda, Naugaon, Gurundia and Koida blocks besides part of Lahunipada blocks of Panposh and Bonai sub-divisions at a cost of over Rs 660 crore.
Voltas has already missed the completion target of 24 months and so far has made less than 50 per cent progress. Similarly, JMC Projets nearly a year ago started the mega piped water project in Bisra, Bonai and Lathikata blocks of Panposh sub-division and part of Lahunipada block in Bonai at a cost of around Rs 500 crore. With hardly 30-40 progress it is unlikely to achieve the target of August 2023. Birmitrapur MLA Shankar Oram said in Bisra, Naugaon and Kuanrmunda blocks of his constituency the piped water works are moving at a snail’s pace and haphazardly with no adherence to quality norms. He said complaints raised by him are being ignored.
