Darjeeling, Sept. 21: A
group of senior citizens tracking the Balasun Drinking Water Project is
being made to run from pillar to post seeking an answer to why the army
has delayed the project, but none is forthcoming.
The Concerned Citizens’ Association
had sought to know the status of the project from army officers in
Darjeeling. Their query was forwarded to the eastern command in
Calcutta, which in turn sent the matter to the defence ministry in
Delhi. But the ministry has now sent the matter back to Darjeeling.
The Balasun
project which is supposed to end the water woes of Darjeeling residents
is stuck after five years of work because the army has not yet given
permission to lay pipelines through its cantonment area in the town.
Construction for
the Rs 55.86-crore project started in 2007. When complete, the Balasun
project would pump water for 16 hours a day to supply 2 million gallons
of water to Darjeeling from the Balasun river through two pumping
stations.At the moment Darjeeling requires about 15-18 lakh gallons of
water everyday but the municipality is in a position to arrange for only
about 7-8 lakh gallons. Water was pumped from the Balasun to Tiger Hill
on April 8, 2012, which suggests that the major part of work for the
project has been completed. Pipes have to be laid from Tiger Hill to St
Paul’s and Rockville reservoirs in Darjeeling town. These pipes would
pass through the army area at Jalaphar and Katapahar.The project is
being executed by the public health engineering (PHE) department. On
June11, the senior citizens wrote to the principal director, defence
estate, Calcutta, and also to the PHE directorate, seeking a status
report on the project under the RTI Act.
The PHE
directorate replied on July 2, 2012, stating that it was yet to receive a
“no-objection certificate” from the army to lay the pipes. On June 28,
2012, the office of the principal director, the defence estate of the
Eastern Command in Calcutta replied to J.B. Edwards, the general
secretary of the citizens’ association, that his query had been sent to
the director general, defence estates, New Delhi.
On August 31, the
army headquarters sent the matter back to the public information officer
of station headquarters in Darjeeling. The letter written by Major P.
Nagaraj of the RTI cell of army headquarters said: “Since the subject…
pertains to/is more closely related to the functions of your
office/office under your jurisdiction, the application, is therefore
transferred to you”.Edwards said: “Finally, the matter has come back to
Darjeeling. We are wondering who is the appropriate authority to answer
our questions.”
From The Telegraph
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