Trinath
Mayabunder, Dec 16: In a laudable step the Adhyasha of North and Middle Andaman Zilla Parishad, Mrs. Madhuri Giri has directed the Engineering Wing of N & M Zilla Parishad to block the last instalment payment of a contractor, who had constructed very poor road at Lucknow Village of Mayabunder and refusing to carryout repair works as per agreement.
At present, the Lucknow Rural Road of 700 mtrs, worth 36 Lakhs 76 thousands, constructed a few years back, is in a horrible shape now. The said road is one of the most important roads of Mayabunder region, as it leads to Mayabunder Tehsil Office.
When Andaman Sheekha Correspondent visited the spot it was found that the road has developed thousands of potholes and the top surface of the road is missing in several stretches.
Photographs available with Andaman Sheekha are enough to prove that the road was constructed violating all possible guidelines of road construction.
When the matter was taken up with the N & M Andaman Zilla Parishad Ahdyaksha, Mrs. Madhuri Giri, she accepted that several other works carried out by the same contractor have raised ripple in North and Middle Andaman region, for poor standard of engineering.
She told this press, that the Engineering Wing of North and Middle Andaman has requested the said contractor to carry out repair works of the said road, as per agreement but the contractor is refusing to do so.
“Moreover, he is threatening our Engineers with dire consequences if the last instalment of his payment for the construction of the said road is not released. No one is above the law, if the contractor is going against the terms and conditions, his final bill will not be cleared,” she added.
She urged the Administration and other investigating agencies to carryout thorough inquiry against the contractor for looting public money.
It has been learnt that the Lt. Governor will visit North and Middle Andaman very soon. Hope the Lt. Governor will find some time to visit the said road and order a probe.
Contractor did not build the road properly hence payment of final bill has been blocked. But what was the Supervisory/Engineering staff members of the Engineering Wing doing when the inferior quality road was built?