In the wake of Jharkhand High Court (HC) decision to ensure cleanliness of water reservoirs at the earliest, Mayor Asha lakra along with other RMC officials on Saturday inspected the status of restoration work being carried out at major water bodies. The Mayor also assured that special task force will be formed after Diwali to clean major ponds for ‘Chhath puja’.
Infuriated with laidback approach, including infringement of other clauses, especially the time-frame of completing the work in the first phase, lakra instructed the RMC officials to blacklist Shobhit Construction.
The concerned companies roped in for the beautification project has to complete the beautification task in a phase-wise mode maintaining the timeline.
Notably, Shobhit Construction empanelled by the Municipal Corporation for handling the project of ponds beautification covers major ponds like Divyaan Pond at Morabadi, Tetartoli pond and Joda Talab near Bariatu.
According to the Mayor, the company has not been able to cover up even 10 percent of beautification task of Joda Talab as per the contract. A few other consultancy firms managing the task of ponds restoration are also under the RMC radar and have been instructed to speed up the task.
While acting sternly during the inspection, lakra instructed the concerned company heads to either ensure quality work or face the music.
Also, the civil construction around ponds must be such that it should be convenient for people during ‘Chhath Puja’. Construction of staircase, ramps must be ensured during renovation time, the Mayor added.
On public demand, the Mayor instructed the officials to check the quality of materials used in construction purposes. Several residents have complained that substandard materials are being utilized in beautification task.
Also, the Mayor urged to the local residents to join hands and support the civic body in its cleanliness drive.
Notably, during a hearing of PIl on Friday, the bench of Justice HC Mishra and Ananda Sen instructed the Municipal Corporation to ensure cleanliness of water bodies as after immersion procedure due to sheer negligence of RMC, several ponds have been contaminated.
Ironically, the RMC is yet to conduct cleaning work of major water bodies despite of the fact that materials like flowers, clothes and other stuffs must be removed within 48 hours of immersion from the immersion sites (ponds) for keeping the water bodies clean.