Boko, 22 May: Widespread public complaints of alleged irregularities and kickbacks have been raised in the ongoing implementation of the central water project Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) for hundreds of beneficiary households that are situated in along the Assam-Meghalaya border, under Boko Public Health and Engineering Department (PHED) Sub-Division.
People from Hahim area of Boko have accused PHE Department contractors and even engineers of indulging in malpractices leading to failure of the JJM mission in ensuring safe drinking water reaches their homes.
The anger is palpable given that a previous water supply scheme, constructed at a cost of several lakh rupees, failed to address the problem due to alleged departmental negligence.
In the current JJM project in Boko region, villagers point out to the shoddy work undertaken by the contractors allotted the work and also accuse the engineers of turning a blind eye to the mismanagement of the project.
They alleged that contractors are cutting corners and instead of ensuring a connection with a bib cock tap complete with pillar and pipes for each household, a general point is being laid for the villagers to collect the water.
About half a dozen joint connections were set up in front of Hahim police outpost and a similar number was erected in front of the state veterinary dispensary in Hahim. This violates the norms of JJM which is to ensure the tap water connections are individual based meant for every identified household.
It may be mentioned that just days earlier, a three-day meet of assistant executive engineers from the PHED was held in Sonitpur from May 19 to 21. The event brought together participants from the Lower Assam Zone, Barak Valley Zone, BTA Dake and DHAC, focusing on implementation of the Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM).
JJM Assam mission director and former DC of Kamrup District Kailash Karthik N spoke on the responsibilities of assistant executive engineers, while Sonitpur DC Deba Kumar Mishra spoke on the execution of JJM in the district. Kamrup (Metro) DC Sumit Sattawan spoke on inter-departmental coordination, and Syedain Abbasi, Special Chief Secretary to the Government of Assam, emphasized on monitoring of schemes.
Back in Hahim where the controversy prevails over poor implementation of the scheme, local leaders made several attempts to contact the sub-divisional officer of PHE department for Boko, Mukut Barman, but failed to elicit a response.
Meanwhile, some conscious people of the area alleged that due to the Hahim area being a backward place and uneducated people, government officials and contractors are doing work for their own benefits only. As a result, those ambitious water supply schemes have always failed and people of the area have to suffer from the scarcity of the drinking water.
