Lack of coordination between the Karnataka Infrastructure Development Finance Corporation (KUIDFC) and Gulbarga Electricity Supply Company (Gescom) came to light at the review meet presided over by Vinay Kumar Sorake, Urban Development Minister, here on Wednesday.
On the slow progress of the Rs. 114-crore drinking water project, a KUIDFC official stated that inlet and outlet meters were ready to be installed on all overhead tanks, and an application had been forwarded to Gescom seeking power supply. The Gescom official replied that power supply had already been sanctioned, and the company was waiting for KUIDFC to pay the deposit.
This irked Deputy Commissioner Amlan Aditya Biswas, who took the official to task for misleading both him and the Urban Development Minister.
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His temper rose on being told that the deposit had to be remitted by the contractor before work could begin.
‘Blacklist contractor’
“The contractor had promised to complete work in March, and failed to do so. You have been directed to instruct the contractor and complete the project on schedule, not the other way around,” he told officials, and suggested that the Minister order the contractor to be blacklisted.
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Intervening, Mr. Sorake observed: “it appears government officials are under the contractor’s thumb, and not vice versa.” He directed Gescom and KUIDFC to ensure that the project was completed by July-end.
Increase
BUDA Commissioner Nafisa Khazi was caught unawares by Mr. Biswas’s reaction, when she stated that a proposal to purchase land at Rs. 12 lakh an acre for developing layouts had been forwarded for approval. “I fixed the price at Rs. 9 lakh an acre. How was it increased?” Mr. Biswas wanted to know.
He shot down her arguments, stating that only the Deputy Commissioner could fix the price.