Dispur turns a blind eye to breach in Barak banks

Aug. 11: When chief minister Tarun Gogoi peered down at acres and acres of submerged Cachar countryside from his chopper in September last year, he promised that there would be no dearth of funds for repair of embankments. Not a rupee has trickled in from Dispur in the past 11 months. With incessant showers threatening to wash away the existing embankments, a desperate water resources department does not know whether to remind Dispur of its promise or try out its own devices to plug the breaches.

At least 35 breaches in the embankment along the Barak need to be repaired immediately.
After last year’s deluge, engineers of the water resources department drew up a repair plan with an estimated expenditure of Rs 16 crore. Dispur had then said it would be able to shell out Rs 5 crore and asked the department to make do with the new budget.But the promise remained only a promise and the water resources department began looking for ways to get the work done without financial aid from Dispur.

“We have undertaken repairs on the minor breaches and damages on the embankments by goading the contractors to take up the work without waiting for payment,” said Ranadhir Bose, executive engineer of Cachar water resources division. The government already owes Rs 2 crore to the contractors registered with the department for earlier work. The contractors have now made it clear that unless they received money, they would not take up any more repairs.

Though it did not rain as heavily this year as it did last September when the district suffered two waves of floods, a week of constant shower could cause the burst its banks and inundate Cachar.
And then it will be time for more empty promises. source: telegraph india