Jajpur: An investment of Rs 30 crore for concretization of the banks of Jajpur main canal went down the drain after the newly constructed canal banks developed cracks and later caved in after the first monsoonal rain, a report said Saturday.
The state government invested over Rs 30 crore to concretise the canal bank and its bed for smooth flow of water to provide irrigation facilities to farmlands. The concretization work was carried out for a stretch of 10 km starting from the Anicut of Baitarani and Budha rivers to Malaanandapur and Kianalipur villages.
This dashed the hopes of farmers who expected to irrigate their farmland after water is discharged into the canal. They sought intervention of the collector in this regard and demanded stringent action against irrigation officials and the implementing agency.
Vernacular daily Dharitri published a report March 11 about the sub-standard work being carried out by the implementing agency. However, the district irrigation department did not lay stress on the report and allowed the agency to carry out the work. However, the structure finally collapsed, farmers have alleged.
According to data available from the irrigation department, the canal which is 10.144 km in length helped irrigate over 13,099 hectares of farmland in the adjoining areas. The concretization works started from February 2016 and the work order was issued to Guru Maharaj Construction.
This happened as the implementing agency hurriedly finished the work to meet the deadline and used substandard materials. Moreover, it was alleged that the implementing agency was emboldened to carry out the sub-standard works as the officers who were required to supervise it did not visit the spot.
After reports surfaced, officials of the implementing agency were found repairing the damaged portion Friday. When contacted, executive engineer Dhaneswar Samal of Jajpur irrigation department ruled out irregularities in the construction work. The damaged portion will be rebuilt, he added. PNN