Assam: Water supply projects in several towns incomplete for more than 10 years

Staff Reporter

Guwahati: It is not only the people in Guwahati that have been suffering for lack of piped drinking water for a long time now due to the non-completion of ongoing water supply schemes. People in other places in the state are also in a similar predicament.

This fact came to light in a report titled Departmentally Related Standing Committee (DRBC) of Works Department submitted on the floor of the Assam Legislative Assembly by the Housing & Urban Affairs Department on February 21, 2024.

In the last DRBC, the committee observed that the town water supply scheme (TWSC) in Bilasipara, Sarthebari, Sonari, Namrup, Palashbari, Bihpuria, Gohpur, and Lanka executed under the Assam Urban Water Supply & Sewerage Board was found to be incomplete even after 10 years. The committee, therefore, expressed its dissatisfaction with the matter regarding the progress and execution of these water supply schemes. Further, the Committee also submitted the additional progress along with an updated Action Taken Report in this regard. Accordingly, deliberation was held with the Assam Urban Water Supply & Sewerage Board, and a detailed review of the schemes mentioned above was undertaken.

The water supply schemes pending for more than 10 years are: Bilasipara TWSC, a project worth Rs 458.99 lakh, was approved on October 1, 2012, and it is only partially operational; Sonari TWSC, with a projected cost of Rs 788 lakh, approved on September 18, 2013, shows progress of 85.14%; Gohpur TWSC, with a project cost of Rs 1661.09 lakh, approved on March 27, 2012, shows a physical progress of only 35%; Bihpuria TWSC, with a projected cost of Rs 520.48 lakh, approved on March 11, 2015, shows a physical progress of 50%; Namrup TWSC, with a project cost of Rs 354.63 lakh, the work on which was awarded in September 2012, showed progress of 80%; Sarthebari TWSC, with a project cost of Rs 236.14 lakh and work awarded in March 2012, shows a physical progress of 90%; work on Lakhipur (Goalpara) TWSC, with a project cost of Rs 469.11 lakh, was awarded in September 2012, and the physical progress displayed is 47%; Palashbari TWSC, with a project cost of Rs 238.64 lakh and work awarded in March 2012, shows a physical progress of 70%; and Lanka TWSC, with a project cost of Rs 950.5 lakh and the work awarded in June 2015, now shows a physical progress of 50%.

Most of the balance work on the projects is now being proposed to be completed under the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) 2.0 scheme.

The cause of the delay in the water supply schemes in Sarthebari and Lakhipur is described as being due to the work awarded in a piecemeal manner instead of as a turnkey contract.

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