The Communist Party of India (Marxist leninist) has questioned the quality of construction by the GVK Company in the 330 MW Srinagar hydro power project on the Alaknanda River. CPI (Ml) Garhwal secretary Indresh Maikhuri said a wall of the desilting basin of the project had recently suffered damage, raising doubts about the quality of construction by the company once again.
According to Maikhuri, ever since the GVK company began work on this power project, various problems had been experienced that showed that the company had not learnt a lesson from its past errors especially regarding the quality of construction. “The coffer dam of this project gave way in 2008, 2009 and 2010, while the desilting basin had also sustained damage last year.
Since last year, local residents have been complaining about leakage in the project’s canal but the officials concerned have remained apathetic to the public complaints. Considering that the desilting basin wall broke for the second time in as many years and the leakage, the CPI (Ml) seeks immediate intervention of the Central and State Governments in this matter. We are also demanding a high level inquiry into the construction works undertaken by the GVK company and lodging of a criminal case against the company for endangering the lives of locals and inferior quality construction works with faulty designs. The safety of the life and property of those living near the project area should also be guaranteed,” he stressed.