Kohima, June 7 (MExN): The Zhadima Village Council has given the Nagaland Public Health Engineering Department (PHED) 60 days to complete the process of supplying pipeline water to all 24 villages earmarked in the long pending NLCPR project under Chiephobozou RD Block.
A representation to this effect was submitted to the Chief Engineer, PHED on June 6. It was appended by ZVC Chairperson Neilalhoulie Soliezou; Secretary Seyiekhrielhou Kuotsu, and WATSAN Chairperson Roko Angami.
In the representation, the Council cited an RTI reply, based on which The Morung Express had published a report on April 27, highlighting how the project, designed to provide water supply to 24 villages under Chiephobozou Rural Development Block, remains non functional.
The ZVC said that the department’s RTI reply stating that, “assets constructed are functional... structures are lying unused because villagers were demanding for more water tanks,” was “quite conflicting, as not a single water tank(s) were constructed nor any pipelines laid in all the strategic locations for water distribution in the village during the time. It also maintained that the villagers “did not demand or request the department for more tanks.”
Instead, it said that the Zhadima community and its neighbouring villages longed for the department to wholly complete the project.
With regard to the Zhadima village community and neighbouring villages stopping the commissioning of the project on July 30, 2019, the ZVC representation maintained that the action was taken as the project was “incomplete and lack credibility as there were numerous lapses in providing water supply to the earmarked villages.”
The ZVC went on to state that “the tall promises by the PHED Minister on July 30, 2019, to fully complete and commission the project latest by December 2019 still stands unfulfilled.”
It maintained that the people have “been taken for granted” and that the department concerned is trying to “play a cut throat game where the department is trying to placate the masses with false RTI replies while trying to subjugate the innocent villagers of their basic rights.”
Highlights ‘points of contention’
Following this newspaper’s report and subsequent statements from the village elders and leaders, the PHED clarified in a statement on May 17 that the “The project was sanctioned in 2010 with a total estimated cost of Rs 2626.41 lakh covering 24 villages, out of which 9 villages were to be covered by pumping from the Vithoru source and the remaining 15 villages by independent sources.” However, it claimed that during the course of the implementation of the project, an amount of Rs 130.20 lakh was not released to the Department, which affected the completion of the project.
“As per the report of the Department inspection team, servicing and repair works such as power transformer, pipe joints in rising mains, checking of balancing reservoirs and restoration of the gravity pipelines damaged during road construction, servicing of pumps and motors need to be carried out to restore the pumping system. In the remaining 15 villages, water supply is available in 11 villages while restoration works will be carried out in the other villages,” the PHED’s clarification stated.
In this connection, the ZVC highlighted a few points of contention and asked the department to point out the 11 villages where water supply is available. It also asked the department to explain why only 9 villages are to be covered by pumping when 24 villages had been earmarked for water supply in the multi-crore project.
The Council also sought the names of the remaining 15 villages that are to be supplied water through independent sources and further enquired “what actually are the independent sources as per your department’s substantiation?”
While seeking answers from the department against the claims made by the department, the ZVC has given the department 60 days from the date of submission of the representation to complete the process of supplying pipeline water to all the earmarked villages.
“Many tall promises had been made, yet the project could not be wholly completed on time and till date no positive outcome has been achieved,” it asserted. It emphasised that the representation should be treated with “utmost exigency and thereafter, we shall not be held responsible for any untoward eventuality.”
Mention may be made that the project was sanctioned under NLCPR at a total cost of Rs 26.26 crore to provide water supply to 24 villages under Chiephobozou RD Block.
Subsequently, the central government started releasing fund for the project on December 13, 2010 wherein the Director, DoNER in the approval letter on August 3, 2010 categorically stated “the time frame for completion of the project is 24 months. The date of this sanction letter would be reckoned as the date of start of the project, target date of completion of the project would be August 2012. Time is to be followed strictly.”
