Imphal, February 24, 2010: The Imphal Sewerage Project being implemented by the Public Health Engineering Department (PHED) with French investment has been virtually put under siege following refusal of the State Government to sanction necessary fund.

Some people might have the impression that the project work is continuing.

But, implementation of the project has been halted except for little works done here and there by a few contractors engaged by the Government, informed an official source.

The Sewerage Project was envisaged in 2003 under an agreement according to which the State Government would provide Rs 93.21 crores against the Govt of France's material assistance worth Rs 41.54 crores.

However, the project could not take off until 2006 due to State Government's unsound financial position even as the Govt of France provided all the material components in accordance to the agreement.

Failure to take up the project resulted in escalation of the project cost to Rs 217.61 crores, adding a huge financial burden to the State Government.

On account of this huge escalation in the project cost, the State Government was compelled to search for funding agencies.

Between 2008-09, an amount of Rs 90.33 crores was spent on the project.

At the present, the project is 50 per cent complete.

However, with the State Government not making any further sanction, the project has been put to a halt.

Even as PHE Department has been demanding Rs 13.45 crores to pay bills it owe to contractors, the State Government has not been sanctioning any fund.

The department has also projected annual fund requirements for 2009-10 at Rs 57 crores and 2010-11 at Rs 70.28 crores.

The department further proposed another Rs 76.77 crores to be sanctioned from the Non Lapsable Central Pool of Resources (NLCPR) to complete the project.

But it is unlikely that the proposed amount would be sanctioned from NLCPR.

Because of the non-release of funds for the project, contractors are now incapable of carrying on their work.

On the other hand, the incomplete project has been causing serious inconvenience to both human and vehicular traffic as many roads and streets have been left dug out at different points.

The project can be completed by next year, provided there is adequate fund, added the official source.

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