“Being taken for granted is perhaps our fate,” laments a despondent Kanaka Tulsiram, the Gond Adivasi sarpanch of Vadgaon in the tribal Indervelli mandal, as he responds to delay in repairs to the road to his village. “These people will not allow our road to be repaired even if we die,” he continues, accusing public representatives of putting spokes in the works by demanding huge ‘percentage’ from contractors upfront, which the latter are not willing to oblige.
Tulsiram is not the only one to accuse the public representatives of scaring away contractors by their demand, but there are others who, on condition of anonymity, assert that the demand for percentage or commission from contractors by all the elected representatives in a given area sometimes surpasses even 7 per cent of the estimated cost of the work. “At this rate, the ‘percentage’ to be given for works under Maintenance of Rural Roads (MRR) in Indervelli mandal comes to about Rs. 60 lakh as the estimated cost of works is about Rs. 8.5 crore,” a teacher from the mandal calculates.
“Adilabad’s backwardness owes itself to the pathetic state of roads linking its far flung areas to the urban centres. Any delay in repairs or laying of new roads therefore will be detrimental to its cause,” opines Sinde Raju of Jainoor mandal headquarters where works are yet to get under way.
“Yes, there is a delay in execution of road repairs in the district as only about 170 km of it has been completed so far,” concedes In-charge Superintending Engineer of Panchayat Raj Department, K. Maruti. He, however, denies any knowledge of the percentage business, but says the speed is likely to pick up in the coming months and all works will be completed by March-April next year as planned.
The works have a periodicity of 15 months starting January this year, but the current speed of execution makes the periodicity a moot point. The pace of works gets slackened in the monsoon which is just round the corner.
The government has sanctioned 301 black top renewal works under MRR and 141 works on incomplete roads under Construction of Rural Roads (CRR). The estimated cost for the sanctioned 1,375 km length of roads under MRR and 456 km length under CRR is Rs. 250 crore and Rs. 220 crore approximately.
How much they want?
Sometimes it crosses 7 per cent of the estimated cost of the work, according to local people.
Quote
At this rate, the percentage to be given for works under Maintenance of Rural Roads in Indervelli mandal comes to Rs. 60 lakh as the estimated cost of works is Rs. 8.5 crore.
A teacher
Progress report
The total estimated cost of road works under MRR and CRR is Rs. 470 crore
Total length of roads to be repaired under MRR is 1,375 km and CRR is about 456 km
Only 170 km of road has been repaired under MRR, while works on almost all CRR roads are yet to take off
Bills worth only about Rs. 24 crore have been paid indicating slow pace of works
Of the 52 mandals, works under MRR have been grounded in 41 with over 30 registering no progress at all
Good progress of work is recorded only in Adilabad, Koutala and Mamda mandal while Sirpur (U), Sirpur (T) and Bejjur have recorded some progress