The delay in execution of Rs.178 crore centrally-funded drinking water scheme taken under Urban Integrated Development Scheme for Small Medium Towns (UIDSSMT) in the city has escalated the project cost by an additional Rs.50 crores.
Sanctioned in 2007, the UIDSSMT project envisages construction of fifteen 1,000 kilo litre capacity elevated level service reservoir (ESLR) for supply of drinking water through distribution pipelines connected to a new filter bed at Waddepally.
As per the original plan, raw drinking water is supplied to Waddepally water filter bed from Dharmasagar reservoir by linking the two with a 2100 mm diametre pipe for up to 12 km distance.
Post the filtering process at Waddepally filter bed, the water is pumped to the fifteen 1000-kilolitre capacity elevated level service reservoir (ESLR) before distribution pipeline take the water to city homes.
For the entire project, a distribution pipeline network of 260 kilometres needs to be laid.
However, for want of funds, only up to 60 kilometres distribution pipeline work was finished leaving the rest 200 km incomplete. The total cost to complete the unfinished pipeline distribution work two years ago came about Rs.30 crores, which is now said to have reached Rs.50 crores.
Before stepping down as mayor of WMC, sources said Ms Errabelli Swarna unsuccessfully tried to get state grant to complete the remaining UIDSSMT in 2009.
It is pertinent to note that when the Centre sanctioned the UIDSSMT project in 2007 for Warangal Municipal Corporation (WMC), it was supposed to be completed within 18 months from the date of the tender process.
The unfinished drinking water project work is now being taken up three private companies, who have formed a joint venture to carry out the scheme based on a project plan prepared by a private Kolkata-based consultancy.
Significantly, for the project cost escalation, highly placed sources blamed the private consultancy, which reportedly managed to get their project plan approved without conducting the second mandatory stakeholders’ meeting before final approval.
However, in the absence of the functioning WMC body, sources said that the work status of the ongoing UIDSSMT works remains in the dark as there is no public representative to check accountability of officials.
When contacted by this newspaper, Mr E Ramaswamy, WMC engineer, said that he is unaware about the project’s bottleneck areas. “Our job is maintenance but the work is supervised by the public health department,” he said.