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Hyderabad: Dam work stops over blasting

The contractors have informed the government that unless norms are relaxed they will not be able to meet deadlines.

Hyderabad: After land acquisition, irrigation projects face another hurdle of getting police clearance for blasting hard rocks and that is coming in the way of construction works.

Contractors have stopped work on the Palamur-Ranga Reddy lift irrigation scheme and other projects, complaining that the police is not giving permission in time for blasting rocks, and is harassing and booking cases against them.

The contractors have informed the government that unless norms are relaxed they will not be able to meet deadlines. Work has started on 20 packages of the Rs 30,000-crore Palamur-RR project.

The police is objecting to the use of gelatin sticks, citing security reasons. Contractors say this is the only solution to meet deadlines.

The police said the contractors were resorting to blasting without entering into agreements with blasting agencies in Pune, which provide technical expertise and support. Cases were filed against contractors for blasting in Vattem reservoir works recently.

Eight problematic sites were identified; these had nearly one crore cubic metres of hard rock formations. Irrigation minister T. Harish Rao has assured contractors that he will ensure that they get licences if they comply with safety precautions.

“We have taken up the issue with the police. They have no objection to giving licences to blast rocks provided the contractors adhere to safety norms. They have been asked to apply for licences at a time so that they can be processed quickly,” Mr Rao said.

( Source : Deccan Chronicle. )
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