The Hindu 29.11.2010
Opposition parties raise doubts over drinking water project
| ‘We'll oppose any project which will put additional burden on people' |
KAKINADA: Opposition parties are taking objection to the proposed drinking water project to be taken up by the Municipal Corporation with an outlay of Rs. 108 crore. The civic body, which has decided to launch the project keeping in mind the future requirements of the city and began working on it.
Voyants Solutions has prepared the detailed project report.
The objective of this project, being taken up with World Bank funds, is to ensure that there should not be any shortage of drinking water in the city in the next three decades.
Though the project has been approved formally by Special Officer of the Municipal Corporation and district Joint Collector K. Sasidhar, leaders of the Opposition parties are expressing doubts about the viability of the project.
The Telugu Desam Party is seeing the project as an excuse to introduce drinking water meters in the city. Party's city unit president Dusarlapudi Ramana Raju, who dashed a letter to all the officials concerned, opposing the project, said on Sunday that there was no clarity among the officials about the proposed project.
‘Data not provided'
“The officials are not providing the data required even to the elected representatives. They should give all the details in the form of a booklet and explain in detail to the public by convening Grama Sabhas,” he said.
Expressing similar opinion, district president of the Bharatiya Janata Party Y. Malakondaiah said their party would oppose any development against the interest of the common man.
“It is not fair on the part of the officials to chalk out plans to levy additional taxes on the public. The proposed project is against the interests of the poor, as there is no provision of public taps in the project report,” he said, adding that the people were already overburdened with numerous taxes.
