Shillong, Mar 11: Minister in-charge Public Health Engineering (PHE) Marcuise N Marak has denied any irregularities in the implementation of a water supply project in Garo Hills while also maintaining that the department is monitoring the progress to ensure early completion of the project.
Replying to a question raised by TMC legislator Dr Mizanur Kazi regarding the Nekikona Combined Water Supply Project, Marak said the inquiry report, which was made after a complaint was lodged in the centralised public grievances redress and monitoring system, found no such malpractice on the part of the PHE, the official in-charge of implementation and augmentation of the water supply project.
Marak also said that given the sheer volume of data to be processed or uploaded and not to mention the complexities and encounters in the field, such disparity in the figures is bound to figure in the JJM dashboard.
Stressing the need to bridge communication gaps between subordinate officers, staff, sub-divisional officers, Junior engineers, and others with the technical staff in the division, the minister encouraged the executive engineer to take steps so that correct data can be uploaded in MIS as per the work progress.
“The work of both schemes are still going on but not fully completed. As per the field visit, overall work is progressing at a good pace and payment to the contractor has been made as per the completed work and contract agreement,” Marak informed.
The minister also assured that the department will make an all-out effort to ensure the contractor completes the project at the earliest to ensure residents get access to a sufficient drinking water supply.
Earlier, the minister informed that the overall progress of the augmentation work is at 87 per cent and the project aims at providing functional household tap connections to 7,178 households.
