Barely two days after the Imphal Free Press and few other media houses highlighted the plights of the villagers of Chakha and Kangjang in Senapati district of Manipur over the ‘substandard blacktopping’ of Willong Khunou to Chakha inter village road under PMGSY, the rural engineering department has assured to take necessary measures to ensure durability of the road.
The Imphal Free Press on June 20 reported that portions of the only road connecting the two villages with the rest of the district, Senapati, were severely damaged with asphalt being ravelled and washed away by seepage of water.
Read: Substandard blacktopping of road under PMGSY peeves villagers
Executive engineer A Jatindra of the Programme Implementing Unit-I, Rural Engineering Department, Manipur State Rural Roads Development Agency on Wednesday said that portions of the road were damaged recently after landslide debris clogged the drain along the road and water started flowing on top of it.
He said that special class contractor D Pukheo Mao, who executed the work, has already been instructed for immediate restoration of connectivity within a week and to install the asphalt anew in the damaged portions of the road. The contractor has also assured to comply with the instructions, he told the media.
The executive engineer further noted that the blacktopping work was executed under PMGSY Phase-XI in 2018-19.
“It was found out that some portions of the blacktopping were done when the pavement was still wet thereby causing the asphalt to come off easily. The contractor and labourers engaged might have done the same since there has been instructions to complete all pending PMGSY projects by September this year and the work was executed to be completed within a fixed timeline,” he stated.
He maintained that during the road cutting completed in 2016 also, the area was found to be a landslide prone zone. Nevertheless, the department will ensure that the road is durable by constructing retaining walls and clearing of the drains, he said.
"We will look into it and ensure that all guidelines and norms of PMGSY 3.0 are strictly followed," he added.
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