Work Delayed is Development Denied
- Hueiyen Lanpao Editorial :: December 13, 2014 -
Delay in development work costs huge amounts of money from public exchequer. The state government is always lagging behind in materializing public works due to a number of reasons.
Among the longest infrastructure development projects in the state, mention may be made of the Sewerage project in Imphal city, which have remain controversial because of the fact that the project is unlikely to be operational upto expectations even after completion.
Numerous crimes including death of passers-by near the Sewerage construction sites happened, even leading to agitations by the surrounding local people.
Still the much-talked about Sewerage project, which aimed at draining out the dirty liquid remains from the city, is far from completion.
Another project which is facing maturity due to lethargic nature of the concerned government department is the Thoubal Multipurpose project, the completion of which is not in sight even after 34 years of its initiation.
The Thoubal Multipurpose project, which has been mentioned in subsequent Governor’s addresses in State Legislative Assembly sessions, is yet to reach completion stage now.
On December 4 in 2010, the then IFCD Minister of Manipur N Biren set the deadline for completion of the project as December 2011.
Tender for construction of a RCC tunnel from Thoubal Dam to Chingkheiching at the cost of Rs 16,30,63,673 was called recently on September 30.
The Thoubal Multi-Purpose Project was initiated in 1980 and different deadlines set for completion of the project. However, none of the deadlines could be met due to several impediments.
During a spot assessment of the project along with top officials of IFCD on December 4 in 2010, the then Minister told mediapersons that only about 15 per cent of the project could be completed from 1980 to 2004, and as a remarkable change, almost 60 per cent was completed between 2005 and 2006.
According to him, 75 percent of the work was completed by 2010. He swore that the project would be completed by December 2011 and the same would be dedicated to the people.
However, in spite of the deadlines, the completion of the project is still a far cry. It is obvious that delays in works accrue more revenue to the contractors and work agencies because of the revision of estimates.
On the other hand, postponement of completion dates costs huge public money, as the stipulated amount for the project has to increase in course of time.
Such delays in completion of development projects is a serious mater, which the government needs to pay special attention.
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