[ Bengia Ajum ]
YINKGIONG, 23 Jun: The villagers of Peki Modi village here in Upper Siang district have written to the chief engineer (CE) of the Public Works Department (PWD) Central Zone-B, seeking intervention in the ongoing construction of a road from the PWD road to Peki Modi.
The villagers, under the umbrella of the vigilance committee of the All Milang Welfare Society, conducted a field visit to the ongoing road project and came up with findings on how to improve the work.
The vigilance committee, along with gaon buras, PRI members, and the public of Millang community expressed dissatisfaction with the progress and quality of work after verification. The committee alleged that the department and the executing firm are carrying out the construction work by deviating from the “actual scheduled alignment of the project, and as a result there a steep rises and steep falls in some portions of the road.”
“More particularly, the alignment between Tati and Sipi Korong is worse,” it said, and added that “the site is not suitable for any vehicular movement if the same is not realigned.”
It further said that the villagers have on several occasions lodged complaints over the “deviation of the work” before the Mariyang PWD executive engineer, but the department turned a deaf ear to their complaints.
The committee also alleged that, due to deviation from the original alignment, the ongoing road construction has damaged the Sipi Nallah irrigation canal, measuring about 1 km. “This irrigation canal was constructed for the irrigation of Kurung-Marte, Hala-Roga, and Sigiang-Bayang agriculture fields. It was constructed by the Water Resource Department under the PMKSY in the year 2022-23 by incurring crores of funds from the central government,” it added.
Further, the committee claimed that the porter track, which is the lifeline of the villagers of Peki Modi, has been damaged at crucial places at the construction site but no alternative track has been arranged for the daily movement of the villagers.
The villagers urged the CE to intervene and initiate appropriate steps for the realignment of the road from Tati to Sipi Korong, restoration of Sipi Nallah, construction of an alternative porter track at the construction site for the villagers of Peki Modi, and for ensuring proper muck dumping to reduce the environmental damage.
Meanwhile, PWD officials dismissed the allegation and said that project is being executed as per the DPR. “This is an EPC mode project, and the construction agency prepares the DPR and executesthe project. The alignment of the road has been taken up as per the DPR and has not been deviated,” said an official of PWD Mariyang.
The official said also that minor damages might have been caused to the irrigation canal. “This is a huge project and during construction some minor damages are caused. It is unfair to blame the department for everything,” the official added.
