Corruption in South Salmara: Contractor Hides Road Material Inside a House

Hatsingmari: This is an interesting story of corruption. What do you do when the contractor decides to hide the sign posts and other material supposed to be used as markings and with details about the project cost and timelines for a road project inside a house?

This is exactly what has happened in Chatola and Surjyamoni areas of South Salmara in Assam. Locals have alleged that local contractor Nazrul Islam has hid the signages inside a locked room of one of the villagers because he did not want the villagers to known about the Rs 3 crore road project under Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY).

Locals said that contractor Nazrul Islam had got the contract to repair and build the road between Chatola and the Surjyamoni market around 5 years back. Despite having taken 75 per cent of the money, the locals said that Islam has not done any work.

The road continues to be in a bad condition causing a lot of inconvenience to the locals. The villagers staged a protest and have requested the government's intervention.

Of the five culverts which were to be placed, only three have been done. The villagers are now worried because it is the rainy season and if the road is not fixed it will be another year of trouble for them.

"The project was sanctioned in 2017. It is mid 2021, the condition of the road remains the same. We want action against the contractor and we want the road to be built properly. How will we commute during the rainy season? The road is already filled with mud, slush and water puddles after just a few showers," one of the agitated villagers said.

The work for the rural area road was sanctioned under the Rural Road Division of the PWD department, Dhubri.

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