It is nearly eight months since the construction of three sewage treatment plants and an overhead water tank in Ramapuram hit a roadblock as the contractor with the Chennai Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (CMWSSB) abandoned the work midway.
Sewage-treatment plants were under construction at Bharathi Salai, Tamil Nagar and at Amman Andal Nagar and the overhead water tank was being built at Bharathi Salai.
All the projects began in February 2015 and were scheduled to be completed in February, 2016, and the deadline was extended to March 2019.
According to the office-bearers of the Ramapuram Social Welfare Federation, an umbrella organisation covering 69 residents’ welfare associations in Wards 154 and 155 under Valasaravakkam Zone, the contractor abandoned the work citing financial issues.
“We learnt from the contractor that he and the CMWSSB were at loggerheads over who should bear the additional expense incurred due to Goods and Services Tax. When the terms and conditions of the contract were finalised, GST had not come into effect. And when it did in July, 2017, problems pertaining to payment of GST levied in construction material cropped up,” says A. Paul Dhas, president of the Federation. Therefore, residents feel that there can be an undue delay in completing the construction of the public utility facilities. They are annoyed as they will only continue to pay towards clearance of septic tanks for a longer period of time.
“Laying of sewage pipes and drinking water pipes are almost complete in Ramapuram. They have to be only connected to the sewage treatment plants and overhead water tanks respectively. This would have spared the residents the monthly spend towards septic-tank clearance. On an average, each family spends ₹850 a month towards this. Ramapuram came under the Greater Chennai Corporation limits in 2012 and it has been under the Revenue District of the Chennai Collectorate since October 18, 2018. But the neighbourhood is still waiting for basic amenities such as drinking water supply through pipes, underground sewage pipes, good roads and public transportation,” says Paul Dhas. The Ramapuram Social Welfare Federation has also put forward a suggestion to the Chennai Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board through a representation that contracts should be awarded to many firms and not to just a handful of players.
A CMWSSB official says that “It is 15 days since the CMWSSB terminated the contract through a legal course of action. However, the contractor has again filed a litigation against the termination. CMWSSB has also confiscated all the construction material. Now, we are in the process of preparing the budget estimate to complete the remaining work, following which a fresh tender will be floated in January.” Residents however want CMWSSB to take appropriate measures so that the work will resume at the earliest.
