(Top) Bijoy Chatterjee, secretary (chemicals and petrochemicals) of the Union ministry of chemicals and fertilisers, (second from right), at the news meet in Dibrugarh on Friday. Students and other committee members protest at the venue to demand jobs for local youths. Pictures by Eastern Projections

Dibrugarh, March 19: The Union chemicals and fertiliser ministry today put the blame for tardy pace of work at the gas cracker project site at Lepetkata in Dibrugarh district on labour-related issues, saying only 13 per cent of the work has been completed.

Bijoy Chatterjee, secretary (chemical and petrochemicals), ministry of chemicals and fertiliser, said besides labour, climate had also played a part in the delay in the project, the foundation of which was laid about three years ago.

He, however, expressed confidence that that the work would be completed on time.

“Till today, we have completed 13 per cent of the project work whereas by now it should have been 23 per cent. We are running behind schedule mainly because of labour-related problems, which will have to be addressed immediately,” the official said during a news meet at the additional circuit house here this afternoon.

Chatterjee was accompanied by joint secretary N.K. Darbari, chairman and managing director of Gas Authority of India Limited B.C. Tripathi, director (finance), Oil India Limited T.K. Ananth Kumar, and Assam chief secretary Prafulla Chandra Sharma for a two-day visit here to hold the review meeting of the monitoring committee.

The committee, which had been formed by the Prime Minister’s Office, reviews the progress of the mega project from time to time.

The review meeting was held at the additional circuit house this morning under the chairmanship of Chatterjee.

The project, being implemented by the Brahmaputra Cracker and Polymer Limited (BCPL), is a part of the historical Assam Accord.

“Despite the delay, we are confident that we will be able to catch up at the end and finish the work on time,” Chatterjee said.

Work had been stalled at the project site after clashes between labour groups last month following which activities came to a standstill for four days. Apart from labour issues, rain also affected work at the project site.

Construction activity on the Rs 5,460crore project got under way on April 9, 2007. The total time allotted for completion of the project work is 60 months.

“As of now, around 4,000 workers are working under various contractors at the project site. This figure will have to be increased four times at the end of this year,” Chatterjee said.

On the other hand, representatives from Lepetkata-Barbaruah Sramik Surakshya Samity, AGP and Asom Jatiyatabadi Yuba Chatra Parishad shouted slogans demanding 100 per cent recruitment for local workers in the project. A delegation also met the chief secretary later and submitted a memorandum, demanding adequate security for local workers.