The Kerala Water Authority (KWA) has engaged RITES Ltd as project management consultants for works undertaken with funding under the Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB).
The decision was taken as per the directions of KIIFB which had observed a lack of qualified staff at project sites.
The decision to engage RITES was cleared by the KWA director board meeting earlier this month.
KIIFB had reportedly asked KWA to engage a PMC for ‘building projects’ costing ₹10 crore and above and ‘non-building projects’ costing ₹20 crore and above.
KWA and KIIFB had been at loggerheads on a number of projects including the pipe-laying component of the Neyyar water supply scheme which envisages 120 million litres of water a day to the Thiruvananthapuram corporation region and four panchayats.
According to KWA figures, KIIFB has sanctioned funding for around 70 KWA water supply projects across the State an amount of ₹4,428.763 crore. Out of this, 60 are major drinking water projects while the rest involve replacement of old and damaged pipe line projects.
