JICA-funded pollution abatement of Mula-Mutha river project still in limbo

JICA-funded pollution abatement of Mula-Mutha river project still in limbo

PUNE:  The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA)-funded pollution abatement of Mula-Mutha river project work is still in limbo. The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) is not able to decide what to do with the inflated tender cost of the project. Last month, the National River Conservation Directorate (NRCD) had summoned PMC officials to resolve the issue of inflated project cost. But nothing substantial came out of the meeting. 

A senior official of the drainage department told Sakal Times, “In December, a meeting with NRCD officials was not fruitful. No solution came out of the meeting. The NRCD officials instructed the PMC to send a letter explaining appropriate reasons to them. However, we have not written to NRCD. We are working on that and the issue has not been resolved yet. We are still to decide if to cancel it or not.”
 
BJP claimed credit 
NRCD is a government agency and has been carrying out the national river conservation plan across the country. NRCD is the nodal agency for JICA-funded pollution abatement of Mula-Mutha river project work. The total project cost of the project is Rs 990 crore. It was sanctioned by the Central government in January 2016 during the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) rule. 

BJP’s city unit had set up hoardings and banners of thanking Member of Parliament (MP) Prakash Javadekar.

Last year, the PMC floated tenders for JICA project. The estimated cost of construction of four Sewage Treatment pants (STPs) is Rs 410 crore. 

However, all five companies quoted 35 per cent more than the estimated cost. It went up to Rs 700 crore. Later, the civic body took a stand that it will not pay the inflated cost of the project. The PMC wrote to NRCD seeking to appoint a consultant from NRCD.
 
After sending three letters to NRCD, finally, NRCD summoned civic officials to discuss the issue in Delhi in December 2019. 

Project details 
Under the JICA project, the civic body will construct 11 new sewage treatment plants (STPs) in various parts of the city. The project includes collecting sewage from point source and divert it to sewage STPs, build STP and treat water and then release it into the river, to build a system, which supplies treated water for reuse in agriculture and industries purposes, along the riverside.

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