Jajpur: A huge sum of Rs 30 crore spent on the construction of the Jajpur main canal might go down the drain with cracks appearing on the concrete surface of the canal due to substandard work, a report said Thursday.
This has raised concern among the residents when the canal work is nearing completion with the farmers pinning high hopes on the water for irrigating their farmlands.
This happened as the irrigation department is in a hurry to finish the work and is allegedly not using quality construction materials as per estimate while the officials supervising the work have overlooked wrongdoings for bribes.
As a result, the implementing agency, Gurumaharaj Construction has carried out the work as per its whims and fancies which resulted in damage to the canal, it was alleged.
Farmers apprehend that the concrete surface of the canal might get washed away in case of heavy rains.
They alleged that due to substandard work a part of the surface of the under-construction canal was washed away during September 2017 and a repeat might be witnessed if heavy rain occurs anytime.
Odia daily Dharitri had then published a report over the misappropriation of public money and substandard work under the very nose of the district administration.
However, it seems the administration and public representatives in the area have not learnt from the mistakes and have remained silent to the gross wastage of public money. This has only encouraged wrongdoers to carry out their work with impunity.
Sources said concretisation of the canal is being carried out for 10.144 km from the anicut of Baitarni and Budha rivers to Malaanandapur-Kianali.
The canal built in the British era helps in irrigating over 13,099 hectares of farmlands. However, during the first monsoon rains last year a portion of the concretised structure of the canal was washed away.
The implementing agency has completed construction of the two reaches of the canal and is currently carrying out the third and final phase construction.
The works on the canal was started from February after Gurumaharaj Construction was awarded the contract. Dhaneshwar Samal, executive engineer of Jajpur irrigation department, rejected wrongdoings in canal works.
PNN