Kendrapara: The Superintending Engineer of the Rural Works Department, Trilochan Debata, and the department’s Executive Engineer at Kendrapara (Division II), Bibhuti Dalabehera, visited Ekamania and Nalapahi villages Wednesday to check on the under-construction 2.52- km PMGSY CC road from Brahamnighat to Nalapahi village following allegations that substandard materials were being used.
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is funding the road. A sum of Rs 1.87 crore has been earmarked for the road.
Locals alleged that one Saroj Nath has been given the contract for the road. Construction started in 2017, but work quality is allegedly substandard in Dakhinidiha and Ekamania villages.
Some days back residents of Nalapahi stopped work on the road, said Ananta Karan of the village.
People of flood-prone Dakhinidiha, Ekamani and Nalapahi villages have protested and said the road would be washed away in the event of a flood as substandard materials were used. Locals have asked the concerned authority and the collector to direct the contractor to construct the road as per norms. As resentment was brewing in the locality and work on the road stopped by villagers, Debata and Dalabehera paid a visit to the area to discuss with locals and to inspect the work, informed official sources.
Debata held talks with the people of Ekamania, Nalapahi and Dakhinidiha who alleged substandard materials were used for the PMGSY road. The SE assured them that he would direct the Executive Engineer to ensure that the contractor built the road as per agreement.
The river-locked villagers of Dakhinidiha, Ekamania, Nalapahi under Kuladiha GP in Aul block do not have basic things like communication facilities. The villages are surrounded by crocodile-infested rivers. On the one side, there is the Brahmani river and on the other the Kharasrota.
The lifeline of these villagers is the boat. To contact the outside world, they have to depend on the boat and the Brahmani river. As tidal water generally flows into the Brahmani river, during high tide the people do not face any problem. But during low tide, the villagers face great problems, said Ishansarwajit Sahu, a resident of Ekamania village.
The situation generally worsens during the rains, said Balaram Mallick of Dakhinidiha. To provide proper roads, the state government allotted the PMGSY road. But, quality of construction has been substandard, said Gobinda Swain, a resident of Nalapahi.
Debata said that he visited the village to sort out the problems of locals. The locals have demanded a diversion road but that is not possible as they want an approach road to the river, he said. The SE has directed officials to construct the approach road.
He said that a three-tier quality control is in place for PMGSY projects. The concerned department generally inspects quality control, the state quality control team also visits the spot to examine the quality of the work and later the national quality control team from Delhi also checks quality. So there is little chance of corruption in a PMGSY road, said Debata.
PNN
