Collapsed culvert on Dalgaon-Dhopguri Road reflects quality of work in Assam Mala project

Our Correspondent

MANGALDAI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while taking part in a mass rally at Dhekiajuli in Sonitpur district on February 7, 2021, launched the ‘Asom Mala’ project, which is a long-term programme for fuelling economic growth as well as improving road infrastructure, meeting sustainable development goals, and achieving the Assam Vision 2030.

But the Dalgaon-Dhopguri Road via Deva Pukhuri connecting Dhekiajuli, launched under ‘Assam Mala’ by the Prime Minister, tells a different story.

The recent collapse of a box culvert on the approach road of the bridge over the river Pachnoi on its eastern bank has raised doubts not only about the quality of the construction work but also on the standard of the materials used, regular monitoring for quality control, follow of department norms, and even on the preparation of the detailed project report (DPR) by Fortress Infracon, a consulting company based at Thane in Maharastra. The box culvert, hardly two meters in length, was constructed for the protection of the structure of the road along with a guard wall on the southern side of the road at village Dhopguri under Orang Police Station in Udalguri district. This culvert collapsed in the daylight of October 12, compelling the department to display a road closed signboard.

The people of the locality have expressed their deep resentment not only on the faulty preparation of the DPR but also on the quality and standard of the work and use of sandy soil.

“We had requested the officials and contractors well before the execution of the construction work to increase the length of the culvert at that point. But they ruled it out, saying that even the Chief Minister cannot change it. Only the high officials and the engineers will be able to justify the construction of the two-meter-long culvert at this point, which they said is not feasible,” said local residents Abdul Hussain, Baharul Islam, and Sarfaruddin, who were also part of the Village Defence Party (VDP) of the locality, while talking to a team of media persons at village Dhopguri.

However, Executive Engineer of Mangaldai-Dalgaon Territorial Division of Lok Nirman (Roads), Er. Kushal Deka, while talking to The Sentinel, blamed the collapse of the culvert on the sudden heavy flow of water from a breached portion of the embankment upstream. Interestingly, while this heavy flow of water damaged the culvert, it failed to cause any damage to several houses located just adjacent to the culvert in question. 

According to the official record, the construction work of this road under the Assam Mala project for 19.024 kilometres at the sanctioned amount of Rs. 14595.12 lakhs was allotted to Gautam Construction and Prabhu Agarwalla in joint venture mode in February 2021, with a completion time of two years. The physical progress of the road connectivity project to Dhekiajuli in Sonitpur district from Darrang district touching Orang National Park and Tiger Reserve has been shown as 98%, with 99.55% financial progress indicating the total payment of Rs. 14529.81 lakhs to the contractors. Though the contractors took more than eighteen months of the estimated time limit, this important road treated as the alternative to the NH 15 is yet to be opened officially. Similarly, the damaged culvert at village Dhopguri, reflecting the quality of the works of the contractor, is also counting its days till its reconstruction.

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