Inferior rubber dams stink Musi further
Contractor uses poor quality material, river beautification funds swindled
By : coreena suares
Update: 2015-10-10 04:43 GMT
Hyderabad: The two “rubber dams” built opposite the High Court and Salar Jung Museum, as part of the Musi Revitalisation Project to serve as check dams to store water during heavy inflows, are damaged. It is clear from the condition of the dams that the contractor had used low-quality material.
The Musi River Beautification Project had cost the GHMC Rs 16 crore, which was funded under the JNNURM. Another Rs 1.07 crore was sanctioned for laying granite kerbs, MS railing from Mussallam Jung Bridge to Shivaji bridge for a length of 1025 metre and for providing gates at the entrance opposite the HC and the Salar Jung Museum. Most of this money was swindled.
The two rubber dams, one km apart, are seven to eight feet deep. The idea was to pump two million gallons of treated water from the Amberpet sewage treatment plant and store them between the collapsible dams. During heavy inflows, the dams would be deflated by pumping out the water to let the floodwaters flow out instead of leaking onto the embankments.
The 80-metre rubber dam near the High Court, with a control room on the other side, has a capacity of 2.6 lakh litre and needs three hours to inflate and one hour for deflation. The one near the museum is 73 metre long. It needs 2.55 lakh litre of water to be filled. The water in these rubber dams has become a breeding ground for mosquitoes. Residents of Ziaguda, Puranapul, Jumerath Bazar, Bahadurpura, Sai Nagar, Chaderghat, Chudi Bazar, Nayapul and other nearby localities are struggling with the mosquito menace.
Kareem Yugantar, a resident of Puranapul, said, “While more funds were spent, the end results were poor; the dams are not in use for years.” Officials of the GHMC wing that deals with JNNURM projects, meanwhile, said that the dams would be visited.