Villagers stall repair work in Manikchak

Statesman News Service

MALDA, June 25:- Having failed to convince the irate villagers Malda irrigation officials have stopped the repair work of damaged anti erosion measures on the bank of Fulohar at Shankaritola Ghaat in Manikchak from yesterday. Villagers backed by the local CPI (M) stalled the ongoing work and demanded job schedule , estimated cost of the work and forced irrigation officials to engage them to procure boulder from outside. According to sources, villagers stopped collecting boulders from departmental owned stake yard and demanded that contractors would have to collect boulders from outside. The CPI (M) MLA Mrs. Asima Choudhury also failed to convince the party workers to allow the irrigation department for this maintenance job to save the marginal embankment for flood prevention. The executive engineer of the Malda irrigation department Mr. S Misra said: “We had estimated Rs. 9 lakh only for maintenance and it was decided that contractors will use departmental boulders. We did not estimate procurement of boulder from out side”.The department had planned to repair the existing bank line protection from Shankaritola to Kalitola. The department would take up anti erosion work for another 500 metre on the bank line Fulohar from Kalitola towards the up stream after monsoon. The estimated cost of the project is more than Rs. 1 crore. “I have nothing to do if the repair work is hampered at Shankaritola just to ‘abide by’ villagers’ demand during the emergency period”, the executive engineer said.