Lokmat News Network
Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar:
The work of the city's new water supply scheme is being completed by neglecting technical aspects, and this has raised concerns that the project may not be completed within the deadline. The Maharashtra Jeevan Pradhikaran (MJP) and the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) are currently passing the blame onto each other, and an urgent meeting will be held in the ministry next week to determine exactly where the mistake in neglecting the technical aspects occurred.
The newspaper has highlighted how the water supply scheme is being compromised in the work on the road between Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar and Paithan over the past four days and it will now be discussed in the upcoming meeting in Mumbai.
The truth will come out in the meeting
A meeting is being planned for next week in Mumbai regarding this issue. The exact office responsible for the mistake will be identified in the meeting. Besides, solutions to the problem will be discussed. All the newspaper reports have been requested. The meeting is likely to be held on Tuesday or Wednesday to address this matter. Although the allocation of portfolios has not been done yet, the relevant secretaries will be called for the meeting to make decisions.
Action against the guilty
The minister Atul Save said, “ The road is 30 meters wide, with 22 meters for the road and 8 meters allocated for the water pipeline. There will be two water pipelines in that space. By January 6, NHAI will present its case in the court. If there is an attempt to delay the water project due to technical errors by MJP and NHAI, action will be taken against those responsible (from both organisations). All issues will be raised with the secretary of the state Water Supply Department and the union Minister of Highways Nitin Gadkari.”
7 km work was excluded earlier
MP Dr Bhagwat Karad said,” The work on the 45-km stretch from Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar to Paithan started in January 2023. However, the work on this stretch is still incomplete, and 7 kilometres of work was excluded by the NHAI. As a result, the contractor stopped work valuing Rs 18 crore. The work of the 7 km was cancelled under the "Descope" (no scope for work) criteria due to the water pipeline work. This project, originally valued at Rs 490 crore rupees, was awarded to the contractors Sethi and Mehra at a reduced cost of Rs 289 crore, which is 41.02% less, under a Joint Venture (JV) agreement.”