Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram   

KWA inquiry loses direction

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Continued indifference and non-cooperation by some top officials of the Kerala Water Authority (KWA) has rendered rudderless the internal vigilance inquiry over the repeated bursting of the HDPE pipeline that originates at Vayalikkada.

In March of this year, the line burst three times — on March 18, March 25 and on March 30 — in the space of 13 days. Officials of the KWA were quick to point out that the main cause of the burst was the shallow depth at which this line was laid (less than one foot below the road surface). The line was laid as part of the Theerapadhom scheme as a dedicated supply line to the Thiruvananthapuram Medical College Hospital.

Amidst much finger-pointing between KWA officials and those from Hydro-Tech, the private firm that laid the line, the Managing Director of KWA ordered an internal vigilance probe to identify possible lapses on the part of KWA engineers who supervised the laying of the line. Hydro-Tech has consistently maintained that the line was laid with the consent of KWA engineers who supervised the scheme. Initially, the KWA maintained that Hydro-Tech would be asked to re-lay a stretch of this line at the company’s own risk and cost. After the March bursts, director of KSUDP Anand Singh wrote to Hydro-Tech asking it to re-lay the shallow stretch of the line.

The letter from Mr. Singh also pointed out that the KWA had, as far back as 2006, asked Hyrdo-Tech to re-lay a 100 metre stretch of this line. In his reply to the KSUDP on March 31, Hydro-Tech’s managing partner Biju Jacob noted that his company was willing to re-lay the Vayalikkada line if it was paid for the job.

“Whenever there is a snag it is always a general practise to blame the contractor…the KWA’s stand that M/S HTEC is responsible for it (the bursts) is illegal and breach and shirking of responsibility,” the letter noted.

Finally, it was the KWA itself that re-laid a portion of the line, spending its own money.

Though KWA officials say they would make Hydro-Tech foot the bill for this work, it is not clear how they will be able to do so.

Sources in the KWA told The Hindu that even after the MD issued an order asking that the vigilance team be given full support to conduct its probe, some officials of the KWA took an obstinate stand on the matter and refused to give written replies to information requests by the vigilance team. This, the sources argued, was why the team was unable to give a final report to the MD.

“The fact that a former MD of the KWA was the lead consultant when the Vayalikkada line was laid resulted in a situation where officials, including the then superintending engineer who is also the employer’s engineer, did not react to situations in a manner in which they would otherwise have.

In short, these engineers did not dare tell the former MD that what his firm was doing at Vayalikkada was wrong,” a KWA engineer said here.

This is precisely why the vigilance probe is crucial. Whether the KWA top brass will throw their weight behind a probe that, if properly done, could end up implicating the authority’s own engineers remains to be seen.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

Sanitation drive to be launched in schools
Preparations for ‘vavu bali’
Community policing for ensuring safety in railways
Congress leaders congratulate Manmohan
State seeks more power
UDF stages walkout
Government to exempt PSUs from retail surcharge
Judicial probe sought into teacher’s death
Date extended
City manual released
Focus on reproductive rights
Farmers’ group wants paddy Bill enacted this session
KWA inquiry loses direction
DCC alleges LDF plot to relocate offices
Murder of minor: mother examined
Collector issues summons to suspects
Insurance plan for fish workers

Copyright © 2008, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu