*KRCL ready to compensate for depleting water resources
Mohinder Verma
JAMMU, July 12: An Andhra-based company engaged for the construction of tunnels on Katra-Dharam railway Section has left the project without clearing Rs 2.60 crore liability of local labourers, contractors and suppliers and taking serious note of this, the District Administration Reasi is going to lodge FIR against the company and its five officers.
Meanwhile, Konkan Railway Corporation Ltd (KRCL) has agreed to compensate for the water resources depleted due to the tunneling works and has urged the District Development Commissioner, Reasi, Dr Shahid Iqbal Choudhary, not to initiate criminal proceedings against it or Northern Railways officers.
Official sources told EXCELSIOR that during the past some time, Deputy Commissioner Reasi was receiving lots of complaints from contractors, local labourers and other workers regarding non-payment of dues vis-à-vis cost of material and labour by Vishakhapatnam based M/s Apex Encon Projects Pvt Ltd.
When the District Development Commissioner took the matter with the Konkan Railways Corporation Ltd, which had engaged M/s Apex Encon as an associated company for construction of tunnels, Chief Engineer KRCL facilitated payment of labour wages in favour of large number of workers engaged by M/s Apex Encon. However, a number of cases of payment of labourers, house rent, hiring of vehicles/water tankers and mobilization of machineries remained pending with the M/s Apex Encon, sources said.
In response to a question, they said, “as per one list available with the district administration, the liability of M/s Apex Encon is to the tune of Rs 2.60 crore. However, there may be many other such cases as all the aggrieved persons may not have been able to reach the administration”.
M/s Apex Encon, which has moved out of the project without making payments to different stakeholders, misled the workers, labourers, contractors and suppliers by sending a letter dated July 14, 2013 to Deputy Chief Engineer (Tunnels) KRCL Reasi mentioning that the payments as per the list will have to be made by KRCL. However, the KRCL informed the District Development Commissioner that neither funds or security nor the bills and claims of M/ Apex Encon were available with KRCL, sources said.
As M/s Apex Encon has willfully withheld the payment dues in favour of the stake holders and service providers, which is a criminal act, the District Development Commissioner has made up mind to get FIR lodged against the company and its five officers namely Nikanti Rama Rao, MD Apex Encon Vishakhapatnam, Anjanya Verma and D N Raju, Directors, M V S Krishna Raju, Project Coordinator and Shiva Rama Krishna Prasad, Site Incharge, sources said.
They informed that DDC has also directed the Chief Engineer KRCL through the Deputy Chief Engineer to seize all the machineries of M/s Apex Encon, if any, till the payment is cleared by the company. “Securing presence of officers of M/s Apex Encon is also necessary to settle the post-termination issues of prime importance wherein livelihood of hundreds of people have been put at stake by the company”, sources said.
Meanwhile, the steps initiated by the District Development Commissioner, Dr Shahid Iqbal Choudhary vis-à-vis depletion of water resources due to tunneling works, have started yielding positive results with the KRCL intimating him that Railway in general and KRCL in particular have been pro-active regarding the issue of Panchayat Mari.
The KRCL has requested the DDC to issue necessary instructions to PHE Department to expedite the preparation of estimate for restoration of water resources, sources said, adding “the expenditure towards restoration of water supply arrangements would be borne by the Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Railway Line project wherever the damages, disruptions and depletions are attributable to the project”.
Accordingly, the KRCL has requested the DDC not to initiate any proceedings against any of its personnel or of Northern Railways.
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