Suhail Bhat
SRINAGAR, Feb 23: An inordinate delay in inspection of procured material by M&P division of Jal Shakti Department is hampering the implementation of Jal Jeevan Mission in South Kashmir’s Pulwama district.
The M&P division’s hesitance to carry the inspection of the material, procured by the contractors from the open market, has held up the centrally sponsored scheme in the district. “As per the guidelines of the scheme we have procured the material like GI and DI pipes from the open market. It was done to complete the scheme on time. Unfortunately, the departments’ M&P division is delaying the inspection due to unknown reason,” a contractor told Excelsior.
Jal Jeevan Mission is the Government’s flagship scheme that aims to improve the lives of rural people by providing safe drinking water to every rural household through Functional Household Tap Connections (FHTCs) by 2024. However, the laxity of the PHE Department is not only causing undue delay in its implementation but also taking a toll on the contractors who have taken loans to purchase the material. “We have procured the material from factories in bulk in cash and give our hard-earned money or taken bank loans for this cause. The scheme is suffering badly due to official apathy,” he said.
Chief Engineer PHE Iftikar Wani, admitted that the scheme should not be held up due to inspection, but maintained that the issue would be resolved soon. “We sent some employee for the inspection few days back. They found some information missing in the third party report of the contractors. We have asked them to rectify it,” he said.
The contractors said that the third party inspection was successfully conducted by the designated agency and reports were accordingly furnished to the concerned department. “The department is raising unnecessary queries like the name is not written properly or allotment number is not mentioned in the report. Even if there was an issue why did it take them two months to raise it? They are unnecessary delaying it,” another contractor said, adding the departments has carried inspection at a couple of sites but have failed to issue reports.
Commissioner Secretary Jal Jewan Mission, M Raju said that the department was doing a commendable job. “They are doing good work in Pulwama. We will complete the project on time,” he said.
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