Avtar Bhat
JAMMU, May 9: Scheduled to be completed in February 2010, the much talked about Jammu Sewerage Treatment scheme has suffered a delay of five years since the work on this ambitious project was started in February 2008.
Rs 130 crore project, as per the official sources, will now be completed in March 2015 as 30 percent, 52 percent and 46 percent of work under package number one, two and three respectively for the project is yet to be completed.
Funded by Asian Development Bank (ADB) through Jawahar Lal Nehru Urban Reconstruction Mission (JNURM), the Sewerage scheme for Jammu comprises of 26.53 kms of trunk sewer line and 65.50 kms of lateral sewer line which are to be connected with house hold connections for disposal of entire sludge, bath room waste etc to maintain proper sanitation of the city.
The major components of the Project included 27 MLD Sewerage Treatment Plant at Bhagwati Nagar, Trunk Sewer Line and lateral lines.
The project was constantly delayed by five years and the time of completion which was extended from initial date of completion i.e February 2010 to October this year has been further extended to March 2015.
In the project report the initial completion period was given two years after the date of start of work.
However Alok Mengi Director ERA the constructing agency of the Project said the delay was due to difficult and intricate nature of work.
He said it is very difficult to work in the congested areas of the city and shift heavy machinery into lanes and by lanes which has been the main cause of delay.
He said the Sewerage Treatment Plant at Bhagwati Nagar is almost complete.
He said that 70 percent of the work touching Bhagwati Nagar area is complete while 48 percent of the work in Bakshi Nagar area is complete and 54 percent work in Janipur area is complete.
He said as per the earlier dead line the work was to be completed by October 2014 but now it will be delayed by another six months.
However, there are many complaints about the project and people said that when it has not been started as yet manholes have sunk at various places in the city.
The sources said the cause for the same can be that proper weathering was not done which resulted into sinking of manholes at various places.
Moreover, the manpower associated with the project was not highly skilled for undertaking such a work, sources said, adding that highly skilled manpower was needed for the project as entire city was dug but the same was not considered by the authorities at the helm of affairs.
As the engineers associated with the project have no experience of constructing such type of sewerage system and they needed a proper training for it which they have not been given, sources said, adding there are apprehensions about the proper functioning of the project.
Moreover keeping in view the rapid expansion of the city the Bhagwati Nagar was not also an idle place for construction of STP and it should have been shifted two three kilometers away, sources said.
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