Thoubal project will be completed by December, 2011: Chief Minister
Source: Hueiyen News Service
Imphal, February 27 2011:
Chief Minister, O Ibobi Singh inspecting the progress of construction work of Maphou Dam, component of the Thoubal Multi-purpose Project today, said that the project would be completed by December this year.
Talking to reporters after taking stock of the work, CM said that 80% of the construction of the earth dam, irrigation, water supply and power generation components and 75% of the spillway have been completed.
The project with a 7.5 MW power generation capacity was earlier targeted to be completed by March 2012.The work will be completed ahead of schedule as there was marked progress in the work, he observed.
However, the generation of power and supply of water in greater Imphal area will be delayed, he said citing that constructing the tunnels for pumping water from the dam site to Imphal is yet to commence.
Government estimate the cost for making the tunnels at ' 600 crore and a project proposal for taking the work after the completion of the dam has been sanctioned by the Central Water Resources Ministry, the CM informed.
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Regarding the payment of compensation to the people affected by the dam, Ibobi said that with the completion of survey of the affected people, government had paid most of the compensations.
If any affected people have ben left out, government will consider payment of compensation from state funds.
Delay in completing project works led to escalation of the project cost, the CM asserted the Planning Commission of India has strongly asked the state government to complete all projects within the targeted periods as far as practicable.
The Thoubal Multi-purpose Project commenced from 1980 with an estimated cost of ' 47.25 crore.
The project cost has been revised time and again, the latest cost estimate made in 2009 was ' 982 crore.
Referring to the COTA strike, the CM reiterated that government would like to fulfill their demands but if the revised six pay band is adopted, government will incur ' 1.20 crore per month, a financial burden the government cannot bear.