Kushalnagar drainage project remains unfinished even after 12 years.

Kushalnagar, June 5: With the goal of a clean city and a clean Cauvery, the state government formulated a project to provide drainage system to the city in 2012 at a cost of about Rs. 40 crore.

After receiving administrative approval, the work on this project started in 2014 through the Karnataka Urban Water Supply and Drainage Board and even though 2026 is passing, the project is still not completed.

A contractor was appointed for this project in 2014 and the final deadline was set to complete and implement the work in 30 months, i.e. early 2016. Even though 2026 is ending now, the work is progressing only slowly. This project, which aimed to build a clean city and a clean Cauvery, has completely fallen into disrepair due to the negligence of the drainage officials. For the last 12 years, in the name of construction, the roads of the settlements, including the highway, have been made muddy, and local citizens are cursing them daily.

The local administrations, including the Kodagu district administration, have also completely failed to take action to complete this work.

The government had prepared an estimate in 2012 based on the estimated population of Kushalnagar town in 2027 and 2043. It has been 12 years since the construction of the sewerage pipeline and cesspools for this project, and most of the work has been discharged into the Cauvery River.

All the polluted water of the entire town, including the waste from the town's toilets, is discharged directly into the Cauvery River.

This work, which was constructed illegally on the river bank, has been submerged in floods for 5 consecutive years since 2018, making the project completely unscientific.

The first phase of the work, which is estimated at Rs. 40 crore and the second phase at an estimated cost of Rs. 18 crore, has been completed, but the basic works in the town have stalled. The work of the 11 kV power line required for the project has not been completed. 

Even on the highway passing through the town, the pipe installation work is still progressing slowly, completely ruining the highway.

The officials and contractors have been changing since the start of the project. Locals have alleged that an engineer of the Internal Drainage Board who was in charge of this work in Kushalnagar gave wrong information to his superiors and was negligent about the project for the last ten years, which is the main reason for the project stalling.

The District Collector and Lokayukta officials have filed a suo motu complaint in this regard, conducted a thorough investigation and demanded disciplinary action against the officials concerned.

The sewerage project will improve the sanitation of the town and prevent pollution of the Cauvery River at its source. This was a major goal of the state government.

But after the start of this project, it is a worrying development that toilet waste is flowing directly into the Cauvery River through pipes installed in the buildings being constructed in the town.

This project has been formed with 95% funding from the state government and 5% from the local body. But the work is not yet 80% complete.

Reports have been published in ‘Shakti’ many times about the incomplete work, and the board officials, who made false promises under the direction of the District Collector, had submitted a compliance report stating that the works would be completed by May 2022 and the sewerage system would be launched in Kushalnagar.

But now, even though 2026 is ending, the sewerage work itself has not been implemented yet.

Due to this, the entire polluted water of Kushalnagar town and its surrounding areas is flowing directly into the Cauvery River, and the entire Cauvery has almost become polluted and has lost its original quality. Due to this, the people living on the banks of the river are living in fear of contracting an epidemic disease.

Pipes have been installed unscientifically on the banks of the Cauvery River for a length of about 4.5 kilometers from Baichanahalli Tavarekere in Kushalnagar to Gummanakolli, and in the wake of the flood, the work equipment has completely flooded the river and the dooms built in the low-lying areas have been covered with soil.

The residents of the town allege that senior officials have visited frequently in the name of inspecting the project and have discharged their duties, but they have completely failed to complete the project.

Due to the delay in the work, the first phase of the work of Rs. 40 crore has now increased to 58 crore. If the project is to be completed further, several crores of grant are required.

At least the board officials need to wake up and immediately wake up to the fact that a huge project in Kushalnagar has been completed and implemented, and that a clean Kushalnagar and a clean Cauvery have been created.

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