Rourkela: Faults in many of the development works carried out in this city, before the FIH Men’s Hockey World Cup, have been exposed with the arrival of the monsoons. The first rains have laid bare the poor quality of work done. The opposition parties have been crying themselves hoarse alleging corruption in development work. Now it is there for everyone to see. First, the paver or pavement blocks close to Gate No 2 sank into the ground due to the rains. Then the Major Dhyan Chand statue, a huge attraction and photography point, collapsed.
Recently, however, the sinking of the paver blocks across a large stretch of the area has attracted attention. The paver blocks spanning from Hanuman Vatika Square to Space Square – a distance of approximately four kilometres – have sunk substantially into the ground. In several places, the blocks have even been washed away. During the World Cup, a retired PWD executive engineer had predicted this development. “With the first rains, one will know the quality of work done. These paver blocks are never going to stay for the way they have been laid,” he had stated. The retired official had pointed out that the setting up of the blocks had been done wrongly. He pointed out that soil testing was not done in a proper manner before the laying of the blocks. “It takes at least two weeks for the soil to settle down after testing.
However, it was not done and the paver blocks were laid in a hurried manner. Also, no space has been provided for the rainwater to escape. Hence the paver blocks are collapsing,” the retired official explained. Now the prediction of the technical person has come true. It now seems that Rs 2 crore spent on the construction of paver blocks has been washed away by rainwater. The opposition parties have been quick to utilise the situation to their advantage. “I have nothing to say, everything is there for all to see. It is a sheer waste of public money. We have been talking about corruption during development work. Now everything has been exposed,” pointed out BJP leader Dhiren Senapati. Several attempts to reach the ADM and CEO, Smart City Project and Commissioner, Rourkela Municipal Corporation Dr Subhankar Mohapatra over the phone turned out to be futile.