The storm water drain project, which is a much needed basic infrastructure project for the city of Vijayawada, continues to remain in the doldrums. More than five years since the commencement of the works, the project remains stagnant for nearly the past one year owing to financial hurdles.
The project work commenced way back in November 2016 and so far only about 60% of the civil work is completed, according to the officials of the Public Health and Municipal Engineering Department (PHMED) which has taken up the project execution for the Vijayawada Municipal Corporation (VMC).
Due to the inordinate delay, the PHMED has written to the State government seeking closure of the project and handing over the same to the VMC upon the request of the latter several months ago.
"About ₹100 crore work is still pending and several bills of the contractor have to be cleared. We have written to the government for the closure of the project so that bills are settled and the remaining works could be executed by the VMC. We are awaiting a response from the government," a PHMED official told The Hindu.
The project is supposed to be completed three years after commencement but was delayed due to various reasons including a shortage of workers, delay in the removal of encroachments, electricity poles and other utilities initially and sand scarcity and COVID-19 pandemic later. Changes made to the project post-commencement also slowed down the execution pace.
Under the project, a drainage network of 443 kilometres, including 301 km of minor drains and 142 km of major drains, is to be built at ₹461 crore. The project is funded by the Central government which offered a one-time special financial assistance to the State.
