Lokmat News Network
Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar:
The Aurangabad Bench of Bombay High Court comprising a panel of Justice Ravindra Ghuge and Justice Sanjay Deshmukh today directed the contractor to submit a ‘road map’ of each milestone of the new water supply scheme project by March 31.
The bench has expressed its displeasure after it observed that the laying of the main pipeline work is going on at a snail’s pace. In the last two years, only 15 per cent work has been done.
The court also ordered the municipal corporation to utilise the funds (of Rs 289 crore) released by the state government on the scheme only. The fund should not be utilised for another purpose, it clarified. The next hearing on public interest litigation (PIL) will be held on March 15.
The amicus curiae Adv Sachin Deshmukh, in today’s hearing, submitted the minutes of the meeting conducted by the vigilance committee appointed by the High Court to monitor the progress of the new water supply scheme. He pointed out that till March 13, not a single elevated storage reservoir (ESR) has been completed. Then how come the seven ESRs will be completed by March 31?
The principal petitioner is Adv Amit Mukhedkar, while Adv Sambhaji Tope represented CSMC, Adv Suryawanshi pleaded on behalf of the contractor company and Adv Patil represented Maharashtra Jeevan Pradhikaran (MJP).
Will the city be free from tankers?
The contractor, in the past hearing, had submitted a written assurance in court. Hence pinning hope on it, the HC had hoped that if the seven ESRs are completed by March 2023 then the city would become free from the tankers.
The sources added, “ If we review the present speed of work, it seems that it would take a long time to free from the tag of the tanker-free city.”