Dimapur, April 15 (EMN): The Lotha Hoho has alleged that the construction firm - M/S CS Infraconstruction Ltd - contracted to work for the upgrade of Wokha-Merapani two-lane highway was not ‘following the technical specifications in the execution of the contract work’.
A press release from the organisation on Sunday informed that Lotha organisations have resolved “that unless the contractor complies with the specifications and the widening earthwork is started latest by the 30th April 2018, the organisations will not allow the contractor to proceed further”.
According to the Lotha Hoho, it had on November 11, 2017 “visited the DGM, NHIDCL at Sivasagar and requested for compliance to specifications and to which the NHIDCL had agreed in written and have supplied the Detailed Project Report (DPR) documents to the Hoho”.
It has also signed various memoranda of understanding ‘with the agents of the contractor at Wokha and Bhandari’ notable among which are the ones signed on January 3, 2018; and February, 15 2018.
“Since the ongoing works of the contractor are seen as contrary to the various assurances, MOUs and technical specifications, the Lotha Hoho had, on 22.12.2017, written to the GM, NHIDCL, requesting for a co ordination meeting, on the 28.12.2017, at Wokha, to which the NHIDCL had initially agreed. The LH had therefore made arrangements, for the meeting; but on the day the DGM, Sivasagar, informed through phone that the Assam Minister for Power was inaugurating a power project at Sivasagar and hence cannot come for the meeting.
“The LH had again convened another meeting with the NHIDCL and contractor on the 30.01.2018, to which the NHIDCL failed to turn up; although one Sudip Singh, claiming to be site in charge, of contractor, attended the meeting. But when asked for documents for his authorization, from the contractor, he failed to produce any document to authenticate his identity. The NHIDCL personnel, if any, is not available at work site and the road work is therefore not supervised by any technical personnel. Also the NHIDCL had not opened any local co ordination office at Wokha,” the press release read.
In spite of ‘all sincere efforts from the community organisations’, it stated, the firm was yet to start the widening of roads. “The contract work is for rehabilitation-cum-upgradation of the road to two-lane with carriageway of 7 metres for plain sector and 5.50 metres for hilly terrain; and hence the formation cutting includes the shoulders as well as provision for the drain. The contractor has brought a few backhoe fuel loaders (three or four) and an equal number of dippers (dumpers) only, for the entire stretch, and is not doing any widening earthwork so far.
“The beneficiary stakeholders therefore wonder as to how the contractor is going to do the widening after constructing culverts and other second and third stage work items! It may be highlighted to the readers that as per the specifications, the total road width is 34 feet for plain section and 29 feet for hilly terrain.
This road width includes paved shoulders on the two sides of the runway and side drain of 2 feet width. The existing road width is a narrow district road of hardly 18 feet total width and hence the need for widening for upgradation to two-lane,” it stated.
