CS angry over procedural delay in Song project
PrashantNews
After all the clearances, the multi-purpose Rs 2100 crore Song project in Dehradun which will produce 6 Mw of power, is still struck in procedural delays.
Uttarakhand Chief Secretary Radha Raturi has expressed her anguish over the delay in the procedural clearances of the Song drinking water project for Dehradun which has faced huge cost overrun.
More than a decade ago, the cost of the Song project was estimated to be Rs 500-600 crore which has now reached to Rs 2000-2100 crore mainly due to procedural delays.
During an EFC of the project on Monday, Raturi issued strong instructions to the state irrigation department and Uttarakhand Project Development and Construction Corporation Ltd (UPDCC), an Irrigation department’s division, to do the needful for the early construction of the project.
In July last year, Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami had met Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman to request the release of ₹1774 crore for the Song Dam drinking water project as special assistance from the central government.
The central-aided Song Drinking Water Project is proposed on the Song River, a tributary of river Ganga, and is located close to the boundary of the Dehradun and Tehri districts. The project envisages the construction of a 130.6 metre high dam. The project would help supply drinking water to Dehradun and its suburbs providing 150 MLD via gravity.
After the construction of the project, the dependence on tube wells for the drinking water system will almost end in Dehrdun, top officials said. Apart from this, a reservoir of about four km in length will be created by the construction of the project, which will promote tourism and fisheries. This will generate employment and increase the income of the local citizens, the officials said.
All necessary technical, forest land and other approvals related to the project have been obtained from the departments concerned. For the rehabilitation and resettlement of the families affected by the project, an expenditure of ₹247 crore will be borne by the state government.
A decade ago, IL&FS was appointed the transactional Advisor on the project and the letter of award was also issued to the company. The company was mandated to assess the viability of building the dam on PPP or build-operate-transfer (BOT) model. But later this plan was shelved.