1 more handpump stuck in drain work

VELLORE: A day after the contractor, who constructed a drain channel with hand pump in the middle, was arrested and an explanation sought from the Corporation engineer concerned, a similar problem was witnessed near VIT University on Friday.

The handpump in the drainage channel was located on III Street in Vellakalmedu near VIT University in Katpadi constituency. However, when Corporation officials got wind of DT Next reporter’s visit, they rang up the ‘whistle-blower,’ who passed on the information and took pains to explain that the Vellakalmedu scenario was not part of the smart city work, but a job undertaken by the highways department.

Namasivayam, a local, said the bore must be around 800 feet deep as this is a water-starved area. “The question now being asked by everybody is why severe action was taken only against the contractor and only an explanation sought from the engineer,” said Vellore District Consumer Federation president K Sathiyamoorthy.

Referring to the Vellakalmedu issue, he said, “whatever department it might be, it is an engineer who must have cleared the contractor’s bill after site inspection. That being the case how did the highways department official passed the bill for this work?”

Another issue is that Vellore smart city work has resulted in concrete EB poles being planted in the middle of drain channels. Three such poles are on South Avenue Road in phase I in Sathuvachary. Sridhar, an engineer, said, “this is a wrong move as continuous flow in the drain will erode the poles.”