Lack of coordination delays Letang water project

Hari Prasad Koirala,Urlabari, Oct. 24: A water supply project supposed to be completed in two years remains unfinished even in six years thanks to a lack of coordination between the Forest Office, Letang Municipality and the project.

The water supply project opened a tender for the construction and treatment of the Letang Bazaar Sewerage Project at a cost of Rs.289.9958 million. 

Golden Bikoi Khusbu JV Company won the contract for Rs. 190 million. On July 11, 2019, the water supply company awarded them the contract to complete the construction and treatment of the sewerage project within two years.

At the time the Detailed Project Report (DPR) for the project was prepared, most of the roads in Letang were still gravel.

After the formation of the local government in 2017, the roads were paved with public participation. 

Once the roads were blacktopped, representatives from the federal water supply project and the construction company arrived at Letang Municipality with the contract approval letter for the sewage construction and treatment project.

In November 2017, a discussion was held under the chairmanship of the then-chief of Letang Municipality, Shankar Rai, to create a working environment for the project.

During the discussion, locals suggested constructing the sewers without damaging existing structures, expressing concerns that the large project could block roads, disrupt water supply and electricity transmission and leave damaged structures unrepaired.

Suratlal Chaudhary, Chief Divisional Engineer of the Federal Water Supply Project, informed that as per the contract, the company was supposed to complete the work and hand over the project by June 28, 2021.

However, even five years and 4 months after that, the project remains incomplete. 

According to him, when the Detailed Project Report (DPR) was prepared, the road was gravel. But by the time the project started, it had been blacktopped and locals prevented the project from digging the blacktopped road. 

An environment for laying the pipes was not created because the demolishment of the blacktopped roads, which were built with the cost and participation of the locals, was avoided. 

Additionally, since the work began without obtaining permission from the Forest Office, it took a year to complete the legal procedures with the forest authorities.

Chaudhary explained that the project was also delayed because the construction company was unable to cover the costs. 

Additionally, there was a lack of coordination between government agencies to clear the construction site, further hindering progress.

On the other hand, the government was unable to make timely payments. 

Chaudhary mentioned that the project faced delays due to various legal challenges and complications, including the need for a new variation order (VO) to rebuild damaged structures, which further prevented the work from being completed on time.

According to Chaudhary, 9,424 meters of pipe had to be laid down to transport sewage from every household in the market to the dumping site. 

The pipe installation has been completed, and in response to local demands, the damaged areas have already been repaired using asphalt technology.

While 80 per cent of the physical progress has been made, the financial progress has been only 69 per cent, he said.

Arrangements have been made for dumping sewage on two bighas of land near Kamalpur Community Forest in Municipality-3. 

The representative of the construction company, Deepak Poudel, said that the said work had also been completed.

Paudel stated that issues arose when large projects were contracted without proper coordination between government agencies. 

Additionally, the government has been struggling to make timely payments. Meanwhile, the construction company is facing difficulties due to a lack of a proper working environment.