[ Toko Young ]
TEZU, 27 Dec: Questions are being raised at the department of public works development (PWD) sub-division, Tezu, over the trimming of the actual road length from 21 kms to 13 kms for construction under the Chief Minister Comprehensive State Road Development Plan (CMCSRDP). This plan was aimed at the improvement of district headquarters township roads.
Speaking to this reporter, Bapu Welfare Society (BWS-NGO) chairman Pazingso Tayang informed that a flagship programme for the construction (improvement) of Tezu township roads under the CMCSRDP was announced and implemented in the year 2019-20, with the completion date set for 2024. According to the detailed project report (DPR) guidelines, the initial estimated road length was approximately 21 kms, which has now been reduced to 13 kms including, the construction of some meters of drainage system along the aforementioned road.
Tayang claimed that the deduction has been deliberately made by the officers of the concerned department involved in this project. He highlighted that as per the DPR, a road length of 9 km from BRTF to VKV Tafragam has been reduced to 4.9 km, raising concerns among the affected people. However, instead of providing a valid explanation, the officers have been offering excuses.
Documents obtained through RTI reveal that approximately Rs. 12 crores have been allocated for the construction of a 21 km-long road in Tezu township. However, there is no visible implementation of work on the ground, indicating the mismanagement of funds, Tayang informed.
“We have approached various authorities seeking explanations/clarifications for the deliberate reduction of road length,” he said. Tayang mentioned that pressure groups from the affected areas had meetings with the deputy commissioner Shashvat Saurabh and Tezu MLA Karikho Kri regarding the reduction of the road length.
Tayang informed that following the meeting with the DC in August last, a ‘finding committee’ was constituted for ground inspection. “To our utter sadness, it was found that the committee’s report only covered the bad drainage conditions and did not address the road length deduction,” he stated.
“The group also met local MLA Karikho Kri, who directed the dept to conduct a meeting with the people to clarify any doubts. However, no such meeting has been held to date instead, an issued statement cited ‘insufficient funds’ as the reason for the deduction,” Tayang added.
On 26 December, a group comprising village leaders, NGOs, PRI, and SHGs from Tafragam, Hayuliang and Tezu had a meeting with the DC. The DC requested a time-frame till 30 December, 2023, to resume the process to resolve the matter.
“Enough is enough. We will not tolerate any discrimination. If the concerned authorities fail to provide valid reasons for trimming the road length, we will not allow the ongoing work to resume,” Tayang emphasized. He mentioned that an ultimatum has been served to both the DC and the executive engineer, demanding justifications for trimming the road length under the CMCSRDP scheme.
