After skipping numerous deadlines, the Kinnigoli and Malavoor vented dam projects to supply drinking water to many villages in Mangalore taluk are nearing completion.
At the quarterly review meeting of projects in the district held here on Friday, zilla panchayat engineers told MP Nalin Kumar Kateel that the Rs. 14-crore Kinnigoli project was 90 per cent complete and would be commissioned by October – in time to negate the effects of a lean monsoon.
The project envisaged under the multi-village water supply project will see water from Shambhavi River at Balkunje, near Kinnigoli, being lifted and supplied to 52 overhead tanks built in 20 villages.
The new deadline, however, did not pass muster with the MP, who reminded them that the project had originally started in 2009 with the promise of construction by 2011. Though officials blamed the contractor for the inordinate delay, they reiterated the promise of delivering water to the houses by October.
“We have scrapped the contract with the present contractors and have called for new tenders. After the allotment of tenders, the work will be completed within two months,” said the official.
Similarly, on the beleaguered Rs. 24-crore Malavoor vented dam – which was scheduled to be completed in May 2013 – the engineer said another year and a half was needed to complete pipeline work and water purification units in the project. The dam is being built across the Gurpura River to supply drinking water to more than 11 gram panchayats in an area stretching from Moodshedde to Bajpe and Jokatte to Permude.
Electrification by Sept.
Another promise extracted at the meet was from Mangalore Electricity Supply Company (Mescom) which set a deadline of September-end for the completion of Rajiv Gandhi Rural Electrification Project. Under the scheme, nearly 170 km of new High Tension and Low Tension wires will be laid to provide electricity to 356 villages and 14,614 Below Poverty Line households.
Though the connections are to be given free, Mr. Kateel said numerous beneficiaries had complained that a payment of Rs. 600 – without a receipt – was being asked. Mescom officials said they were “unaware” of this, and assured the MP of a probe.
When asked about the preparedness for heavy winds and rains associated with the monsoon, Mescom said a team of 10 gangmen will service snapped lines in the city, and 15 will work on damaged lines in the rural areas of the district. A transformer bank had been created to replace the ones damaged, they said.
