Taking note of the inordinate delay in restoring the drinking water pipe network as well as the roads within the town here, the Pathanamthitta municipality has initiated proceedings to prosecute the agency that was contracted the work.
The Municipal Secretary Sajith Kumar K.K. moved a petition in this regard before the Judicial First Class Magistrate Court 1, Pathanamathitta on Monday. Based on a preliminary hearing, the magistrate has directed the Pathanamthitta police to conduct an investigation and submit a report.
The contractor agency, Lotus, had been awarded a contract by the Department of Water Resources for restoring the decades- old drinking water pipes within the town. Despite extending the deadline for finishing the work on at least four occasions, the agency failed to complete the work .
At the same time, the pits dug up along the kerb sides of several roads continue to remain exposed and amid the mounds of soil and debris, pedestrians and vehicles have to navigate these stretches with great difficulty.
With these pits raising hackles among the city dwellers, the civic body chairman T.Sakkeer Hussain approached the Water Resources Minister Roshy Augustine with a request to blacklist the agency and restore these roads on a war footing . In the absence of a prompt response from the Water Resources Department, the civic body decided to initiate prosecution proceedings against the contractor.
Subsequently, the municipal secretary issued an ultimatum to the contractor to restore the roads to its original condition within 48 hours, though to no avail.
Commenting on the development, the civic body chairman said although the municipality was not a party in the contract, the municipality was duty bound to protect the lives and property of the people and hence initiated the step.
“The action is being initiated by invoking the sections which stipulate imprisonment and penalty to a party who fails to comply with the direction of the Municipal Secretary,” he said.
