Minister talks of blacklisting L&T for delay in completion of 24x7 drinking water project in Kalaburagi

Questions whether officials had ever visited the work sites or monitored if labour deployment matched the required numbers because ‘while thousands of workers were required, L&T has deployed only between 170 and 300 labourers’.

Minister for Rural Development and Panchayat Raj, IT-BT, and Kalaburagi district in-charge Priyank Kharge has directed the Kalaburagi City Corporation Commissioner Avinash Shinde to submit a detailed report on the inordinate delay in implementation of the 24x7 drinking water supply project in the city by L&T so that the construction company could be blacklisted for repeated failure to meet the project deadline.

The directive came during a review at the Deputy Commissioner’s office in Kalaburagi on May 13 with the Minister expressing strong dissatisfaction over the sluggish pace of the project.

“Despite the massive investment of public funds running into thousands of crores, L&T has failed to complete the work within the stipulated time frame,” Mr. Kharge stated, taking municipal officials and engineers from the Karnataka Urban Infrastructure Development and Finance Corporation (KUIDFC) to task for lack of oversight.

“If L&T is not doing enough to complete the project within the stipulated time, what exactly are you, the engineers from the municipal corporation and KUIDFC, doing? Sitting idle is not acceptable. While thousands of workers were required, L&T has deployed only between 170 and 300 labourers,” he said, questioning whether officials had ever visited the work sites or monitored if labour deployment matched the required numbers.

The Minister ordered issuance of notices to lethargic officers, and sought a comprehensive report covering the notices already served to L&T, overseeing officers, any disciplinary actions taken, and accountability measures assigned to the engineers.

Minister for Medical Education and Skill Development Dr. Sharan Prakash Patil highlighted some environmental issues, stating that untreated sewage was reportedly entering the Saradagi barrage and directed officials to take immediate corrective measures.

Kalaburagi South MLA Allamprabhu Patil expressed frustration over local-level disruptions, stating that a pipeline trench in his own Shanti Nagar locality had been left open for 15 days, hampering movement of vehicles. He criticised L&T for poor responsiveness even to elected representatives.