Ukhrul road : Loopholes greet inspection team
Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, November 05 2008: Out of the total fund of Rs 5.32 crores sanctioned under PMGSY Phase II for construction of a new road from Hongbei village to Hingyol village in Phungyar Assembly Constituency by cutting down hill side under two different packages, over Rs 5 crore had been allegedly withdrawn without proper execution of the work.

However, instead of considering action against those responsible for withdrawing such a huge amount on the sly, Rural Development and Panchayati Raj Minister Md Allauddin Khan has announced that a new package for alignment of the road would be made after closing down the earlier two packages that have been left incomplete.

RS MP Rishang Keishing taking a first hand look at the road

Under PMGSY Phase-II, Manipur State Rural Road Development Agency had been entrusted with the task of constructing a new road by cutting down the hill side from Hongbei to Hingyol village under two different packages in 2002 .

Package number MN-0902 was meant for construction of the road from Hongbei to Tangkhul Hundung and a sum of Rs 2.96 crores had been sanctioned for the purpose while another Rs 2.62 crores under package number MN-0903 was sanctioned for the road construction work from Tangkhul Hundung to Hingyol village.

Though 2005 was set as the target to complete the work, till date the task is yet to be accomplished.

Taking a first hand account of the difficulties being faced by the people of the area as the road construction work had not been completed in time, a joint team comprising Rural Development Minister Md Allauddin, MP of Rajya Sabha Rishang Keishing, officials of PMGSY Department, president of Tangkhul Naga Long, chairman of Tangkhul Naga Aze Longphang and representatives of the JAC on Road Construction yesterday went for an inspection tour.

Though the road construction work from Hongbei to Tangkhul Hundung had started with cutting down the hill side, it came to light that the width of the road was not in accordance with the work specification, the road alignment had not been done properly, drainage, culvert and retaining wall have not been constructed and three minor bridges that should have been constructed not constructed at all.

As for the construction work along the road from Tangkhul Hundung to Hingyol, the joint team had nothing much to inspect as the work had been stopped only after the first few kms, so they came till Lambui village by taking the worn out and overgrown State Highway.

Addressing a public meeting at Tangkhul Hundung held as part of the inspection tour and attended by leaders of various villages, Minister Allauddin said the Government has been making efforts to improve road connectivity in the hill districts of Manipur along with earmarking 70 percent of the required fund.

The Minister further said that the works sanctioned in 2002 under Phase-II of PMGSY have not yet been completed and the retaining wall of newly constructed road not constructed.

There had been some lapses from the side of the Department in preparing the Detailed Project Report (DPR), he admitted.

However, without mentioning anything on the alleged withdrawal of a huge amount of money without ever execution of the assigned works properly, the Minister went on to say that works sanctioned under the two packages of PMGSY Phase-II would be closed within a month's time after clearing off all the pending payments.

Instead of that work programme on construction and improvement of the road newly would be included in Phase-VIII of the scheme, the Minister assured the gathering.

The Minister also pointed out that selection of contractor who would actually perform their duties sincerely and with dedication is becoming a hard task in Manipur today.

If even an efficient contractor had been selected, he would be pressurised by under ground activities to give up the assigned work and if the work had not been executed properly when the contract work is taken up by those recommended by the UGs, then the people expressed their resentment against the Government.

He appealed to all concerned not to give any sort of disturbance in taking up the developmental works of the people.

MP Rishang Keishing also pointed out that there have been various instances in which the developmental works have not been executed properly after the contract works have been taken up by the those supported by UGs.

Contract works should be given only those who would be able to carry out the assigned task with sincerity and dedication.

Keishing further said that even if he is not involved in running the affairs of the Government, since his party is in power, he would expect equal development of both the hill and the valley.

JAC convenor Shomi Angkang, while drawing the attention of both the Minister and the MP, said Government should take up necessary action against those involvement in withdrawal of the fund with any work progress.

The work should be accomplished within a month's and JAC would continue to monitor the execution of the work.