Bengaluru: With rural drinking water projects languishing despite repeated warnings, the state govt on Wednesday cracked the whip on infrastructure major Larsen & Toubro (L&T) and directed the officials to blacklist the company for failing to make progress on a crucial multi-village drinking water scheme covering 388 habitations in Dharwad district and villages in Kalaghatagi and Savadatti.Reviewing the implementation of the Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) in State, Rural Development and Panchayat Raj (RDPR) minister Eshwar Khandre directed the officials to initiate action against L&T. The RDPR officials informed the minister that L&T, which was entrusted with supplying drinking water from the Renukasagar reservoir to rural areas in Dharwad and Belagavi districts and Kalaghatagi town, had failed to initiate even the procurement of water pipelines despite being served a final notice. The officials also pointed out that the company had failed to deploy adequate manpower, resulting in the work progressing at an extremely slow pace. It had also not submitted the mandatory progress reports.Expressing strong displeasure over the contractor’s lackadaisical approach, Khandre recalled that he had convened a meeting with contractors and officials on September 11 and directed them to expedite pending works and submit weekly progress reports. However, there had been little improvement despite repeated instructions, prompting him to order action against L&T, including blacklisting. The minister further instructed officials to take stringent action against contractors who fail to deploy adequate manpower or place orders for the required pipelines.The minister also expressed dissatisfaction over the slow progress of several other multi-village drinking water projects and directed officials to issue final notices immediately to all contractors responsible for delays. Cautioning that the government would not tolerate delays except those arising from pending forest clearances, Khandre said the purpose of the Jal Jeevan Mission would be defeated if projects were not completed on time. With Karnataka already grappling with drinking water shortages due to deficient rainfall, he stressed that timely completion of these projects was crucial to ensuring reliable water supply to rural households.
