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| Plastic bags clog the drain in Paltan Bazar. Telegraph picture |
May 8: The Guwahati Municipal Corporation today fined a private company entrusted with the work of desilting drains along GNB Road in the city.
AM Constructions has been fined Rs 10,000 for its failure to dispose of the silt and muck dug out from clogged drains and dumped by roadside.
AM Constructions is among 41 contractors working under the GMC and involved in carrying out desiltation and cleaning of drains.
These activities are being carried out by the GMC as well as the water resources department under the Go Ahead scheme.
While it is the responsibility of the GMC to clean big and small drains, the water resources department has taken up cleaning of the Sorusola Beel besides Bharalu, Mora Bharalu and Bahini rivers in the city.
The priority is to unclog the drains and rivers to create an outflow of excess rain water from the city during the forthcoming monsoon.
According to GMC sources, all contractors must ensure that once a drain is cleaned, the muck dug out from it be disposed of at the dumping ground at Boragaon on the outskirts of the city.
Workers heap muck by the roadside, making the entire area dirty. During rains, rain water flushes heaps of silt right into the drains, making the entire exercise meaningless.
“AM Constructions was de-silting and cleaning the small and big drains in a few areas along GNB Road. It has been engaged in this work for more than a month now. All the contractors were strictly instructed to dispose of silt at the dumping ground at Boragaon. Instead of doing that, the workers kept heaping the filth dug out from the drains by the roadside. So, the GMC today took strict action against it by fining an amount of Rs 10,000,” a GMC official said.
This time the GMC has threatened to blacklist contractors if they fail to adhere to instructions issued to them regarding the de-siltation process.
“We are closely monitoring the work being carried out by the 41 contractors working under us. We will employ five more in the near future so that all drains in the city are cleaned before the arrival of monsoon. If they fail to carry out the work as instructed, they will be blacklisted and will not be paid a penny,” the official said.
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