Malkangiri: While the Works Department has assured that the Gurupriya bridge construction in Chitrakonda of Malkangiri will end by April end, it has been alleged that the construction company engaged for the purpose has not deployed adequate resources necessary for targeted completion of the project.
Earlier on March 29, the Malkangiri Collector, in a letter to the Engineer-in-Chief-cum-Secretary to Government, Works Department had alleged that after a fall in the water level at Balimela Reservoir, the company - Royal Infraconstruction Limited, Kolkata, failed to mobilise cranes for nearly 15 days.
Instead, the company complained about the work getting delayed due to some changes in the bridge design. The cranes deployed for lifting of griders were also insufficient, the Collector alleged.
"Even till March 20, 2018, the company had not made arrangements for standby cranes/resources in case of any eventuality," read the letter.
Royal Infraconstru Limited has taken the work casually and has not demonstrated professionalism, which led to delay in completion of the bridge, the Collector alleged and requested to impose penalty on the contractor for the delay.However, till date the government has not taken any action on report of the Collector.
The residents of Chitrakonda in Malkangiri, rued about the delay in construction of the bride."The bridge is being constructed but all materials are duplicate, MLAs and Ministers are visiting the spot but are not concerned about the quality of work," said a local resident Samara Khara.
"If a road damages somewhere or bridge collapses, the engineers are suspended immediately and the contractor is arrested but in case of Gurupriya, the government seems indifferent. Only a high-level probe can expose the truth behind it," said advocate Ramprasad Patnaik.
Till date Rs 68 crore above the allocated amount has been awarded to the construction company. On the other hand, Executive Engineer of Works Department Arun Kumar Sahu and Chitrakonda MLA Dambaru Sisa asserted that the work will be completed soon.
"Work on 21 spans out of 22 has been completed and two griders of the last span have been lifted, the total work will complete after the last grider is lifted," said Sahu.
"The work will be completed soon and a long standing dream of the residents of cut-off areas of Chitrakonda will turn into reality," said MLA Sisa.