Many question concrete road project’s progress
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By Our Staff Reporter
IMPHAL, Dec 20: Many quarters have started ques-tioning the progress of Manipur Urban Road, Drainage and Asset Mana-gement Improvement Project and they have expressed serious apprehension that the project may overshoot its deadline.
The project funded by the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) is a major infrastructure initiative for Imphal and greater Imphal areas under which roads are being constructed with cement concrete.
Construction of roads under the project is causing many inconveniences to the public at the moment and people fear that the project may drag on for years beyond its deadline.
The estimated cost of the project is Rs 3547.23 crore and 547 Kms of concrete roads should be constructed under the same project.
Construction of road-side drains is a major component of the project and there is a provision to pave the road shoulders.
As per the project’s guideline, the construction of drains and paving shoulders should precede con- struction of roads with cement concrete, sources said.
However, contrary to the guideline, cement concrete roads have been constructed first. Even after several months of constructing cement concrete roads, the shoulders have not been paved yet.
Most of the roads in the valley as well as the hills were already in a very bad shape when there was a popular Government in the State.
Barring National Highways, it was hard to name a single road which was in good shape.
When people rose up in protest against the pathetic conditions of roads, the elected Government responded and tried to calm down the aggrieved public by saying that cement concrete roads or rigid pave- ments were in the pipeline.
For example, when aggrieved people blocked Pangei road for a long time against the Government’s failure to look into its pathetic condition, the Govern- ment announced that the same road would be constructed with cement concrete.
As almost all the roads were in very bad shape, many of the roads listed under the Manipur Urban Road, Drainage and Asset Management Improvement Project were black-topped first. For instance, roads around Khuman Lampak Sports Complex were black-topped in time for the Durand Cup.
Subsequently many other roads were also black-topped but now many have started questioning the progress of Manipur Urban Road, Drainage and Asset Management Improvement Project.
In order to ensure rapid progress of any project, it is essential to monitor the contractors regularly and the progress they are making. At the same time, it is imperative to see that the quality of the work is not compromised.
Moreover, the Government must see that the liabilities of contractors are paid in time, sources said.
The total cost of Manipur Urban Road, Drainage and Asset Management Improvement Project is Rs 3547.23 crore and it must be completed within three years which implies that around Rs 1,182.41 crore must be spent in one year and around Rs 98 crore in a month on the average.
Even though the project was implemented from July this year, not even Rs 100 crore has been spent so far, implying that the project has achieved very little progress.
On the other hand, AIIB earlier wrote to the Chief Secretary inquiring about the failure to appoint Construction Supervision Consultant (CSC) in time. The failure to appoint CSC in time considerably slowed down the project. Moreover, many quarters have been asking whether cracks seen on newly constructed concrete roads had anything to do with the authority’s failure to appoint CSC in time.
IMPHAL, Dec 20: Many quarters have started ques-tioning the progress of Manipur Urban Road, Drainage and Asset Mana-gement Improvement Project and they have expressed serious apprehension that the project may overshoot its deadline.
The project funded by the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) is a major infrastructure initiative for Imphal and greater Imphal areas under which roads are being constructed with cement concrete.
Construction of roads under the project is causing many inconveniences to the public at the moment and people fear that the project may drag on for years beyond its deadline.
The estimated cost of the project is Rs 3547.23 crore and 547 Kms of concrete roads should be constructed under the same project.
Construction of road-side drains is a major component of the project and there is a provision to pave the road shoulders.
As per the project’s guideline, the construction of drains and paving shoulders should precede con- struction of roads with cement concrete, sources said.
However, contrary to the guideline, cement concrete roads have been constructed first. Even after several months of constructing cement concrete roads, the shoulders have not been paved yet.
Most of the roads in the valley as well as the hills were already in a very bad shape when there was a popular Government in the State.
Barring National Highways, it was hard to name a single road which was in good shape.
When people rose up in protest against the pathetic conditions of roads, the elected Government responded and tried to calm down the aggrieved public by saying that cement concrete roads or rigid pave- ments were in the pipeline.
For example, when aggrieved people blocked Pangei road for a long time against the Government’s failure to look into its pathetic condition, the Govern- ment announced that the same road would be constructed with cement concrete.
As almost all the roads were in very bad shape, many of the roads listed under the Manipur Urban Road, Drainage and Asset Management Improvement Project were black-topped first. For instance, roads around Khuman Lampak Sports Complex were black-topped in time for the Durand Cup.
Subsequently many other roads were also black-topped but now many have started questioning the progress of Manipur Urban Road, Drainage and Asset Management Improvement Project.
In order to ensure rapid progress of any project, it is essential to monitor the contractors regularly and the progress they are making. At the same time, it is imperative to see that the quality of the work is not compromised.
Moreover, the Government must see that the liabilities of contractors are paid in time, sources said.
The total cost of Manipur Urban Road, Drainage and Asset Management Improvement Project is Rs 3547.23 crore and it must be completed within three years which implies that around Rs 1,182.41 crore must be spent in one year and around Rs 98 crore in a month on the average.
Even though the project was implemented from July this year, not even Rs 100 crore has been spent so far, implying that the project has achieved very little progress.
On the other hand, AIIB earlier wrote to the Chief Secretary inquiring about the failure to appoint Construction Supervision Consultant (CSC) in time. The failure to appoint CSC in time considerably slowed down the project. Moreover, many quarters have been asking whether cracks seen on newly constructed concrete roads had anything to do with the authority’s failure to appoint CSC in time.