The incomplete canal on Ashiana-Digha road in Patna. Picture by Jai Prakash

Patna, Aug. 3: The deadline is long gone and with it, the hopes of the residents who expected the construction of concrete box covers on a 1.8-km stretch in the existing canal along the western side of the Ashiana-Digha road to be over.

The target for the project was January 2011 but work on a mere 600m has been completed till now. Further, the new deadline for the project has been extended till March 31, 2012 but sources said even this deadline cannot be met owing to large-scale encroachment around the canal.

“The reason behind the non-completion of this project is encroachment on the western side of the canal. Many houses and buildings have encroached upon the earmarked width of the canal by constructing boundary walls and septic tanks. Moreover, several civic utilities such as electric poles alongside the canal have to be removed for which we are co-ordinating with the respective departments. In view of the existing obstructions in the project, the contractor has been given a new deadline of March 31, 2012,” said R.K. Verma, the technical consultant of the south Bihar wing of Bihar Rajya Pul Nirman Nigam (BRPNN) Limited.

“Whatever progress has been done in the project is on the part which involved least encroachment issues. However, the remaining part of the canal has been encroached by multi-storeyed apartments and houses of influential people who are causing obstruction in the work. In fact, the district administration with the help of the police had tried to raze the encroachments on two occasions but the influential people had forced them to retreat,” said a source in BRPNN.

The Telegraph had earlier highlighted this issue in its report dated May 24, 2011. Adding to the woes of the residents are the debris alongside the canal which cause traffic snarls.

Administrative approval was granted for the work of covering the canal from Ashiana More to the starting point of Rajiv Nagar canal on Ashiana Digha Road in January, 2009. The project falls under the domain of the road construction department, which assigned the project to its executive agency, BRPNN Limited, for an outlay of Rs 23 crore. After floating tenders, the project was awarded to a joint venture of Baba Hans Private Limited and J. Das.

“The entire sewerage from nearby areas, which are connected to this canal, are choked and overflowing. Moreover, a provision was made for an alternative canal, which does is non-existent. The situation worsens during monsoon,” said Sumit Kumar, a resident of Ashiana Nagar.