Stage set for Import of construction materials from Mainland
Sarthak Kanjilal
Port Blair, May 24: The Andaman and Nicobar Administration is all set to give a green signal to NHPC to procure aggregates from Mainland for the work of raising the height of Dhanikhari Dam. According to APWD the decision has been taken as there is an acute shortage of construction materials in theseIslands.
But there are many who smell a rat in this entire episode and allege that such decision will increase overall cost of the project, which they believe is the main aim behind importing aggregates from mainland.
Since last nearly a decade the Administration is thinking to raise the height of Dhanikhari Dam although the project was cleared just few years back. The NHPC was asked to carryout the work and soon NHPC awarded the work to a mainland based construction company.
As per the agreement the project should have been completed by mid 2012 but till now only 40-50 percent work is over.
The project totally requires around 28,000 c/m of aggregates and work of nearly 13,000 c/m is already over, this means that NHPC needs only 15,000 c/m of aggregates.
Because of explosive case theseIslandswitnessed shortage in supply of construction materials and naturally the project of raising the Dhanikhari Dam also suffered major setback.
Now, to ensure proper supply of construction materials and early completion of the project the NHPC is planning to import aggregates from mainland for which the APWD has already cleared the file and at present the file is in Secretariat for final approval. However, NHPC’s file for final clearance is inDelhifor approval.
Many believe that soon these files will be cleared, may be this week, by competent authorities and clearance for purchase of 15,000 c/m of aggregates will be given to NHPC.
“This is in proposal to allow NHPC to import aggregates from Mainland. The file has been sent for approval and it is expected that the file will be cleared soon,” a senior level Engineer of APWD told Andaman Sheekha on the condition of anonymity.
But there are many who believe that shortage of construction materials in Andaman andNicobar Islandsis just an excuse for the APWD and the entire story is placed in media by some people so that the file, for import of construction material gets, early clearance.
“The project needs just 15000c/m of aggregates as nearly 40 to 50 percent of the work is over. The project require on a average 70 cu mtr of materials every day on a average and till now the highest amount of material used was only 120 cu mtr in one day. For 70 cu mtr we need 10-15 truck loads of aggregates and this will be wrong to say that APWD is unable to provide 10-15 truck of aggregates to NHPC, per day for this project. When every other contractor is getting construction materials easily from local market why the NHPC is not getting enough materials locally? Moreover the Administration has allotted a quarry for this purpose so that the NHPC get non-stop supply of construction materials,” an expert told Andaman Sheekha.
There are many who allege that the clearance is being given for import of construction material from mainland so that the total cost of the project increases manifold and the profit goes to the pockets of some people.
However, the APWD rubbished this allegation “This would be wrong to say that we are doing this for the benefit of the contractor. We don’t have such work culture. I can guarantee. My motive is simple that the work should not get delayed,” one of the top officers of NHPC told Andaman Sheekha, who doesn’t want his name to be quoted.
If the file is approved soon the NHPC will procure aggregates from MainlandIndia. This will mean that money, which should have been stayed inIslands, will go to people in MainlandIndia, besides increasing the overall cost of the project.
