Shimla, May 2 (IANS) The Himachal Pradesh High Court on Saturday constituted a two-member committee to monitor the construction of a World Bank-funded road project in Shimla’s prominent apple belt which carries out annual business worth Rs.1,000 crore.
“We constitute a committee of two members, former district and sessions judge B.L. Soni and former chief engineer Arun Sharma, to monitor the progress of the road work,” a division bench of Chief Justice Mansoor Ahmad Mir and Justice Tarlok Singh Chauhan observed.
The committee members would visit the spot fortnightly and submit their report about the progress of the work and also give suggestions to take the work to its logical end.
“The chief secretary is held personally responsible for providing all facilities to the committee members. The remuneration of each member, per visit, is fixed at Rs.20,000, which shall be borne by the state government,” the court added.
The bench listed the matter for next hearing on May 18.
The bench in last December took suo motu cognizance and treated the petition as public interest litigation but excluded petitioner (Narender Bragta, horticulture minister in the previous BJP government) from the case as he was a former BJP minister.
The petition has sought directions to the state government to complete the construction of the 80-km long Theog-Kotkhai-Hatkoti-Rohru stretch efficiently and properly within the stipulated timeframe before June 1, 2016.
During the hearing, Advocate General Shrawan Dogra said the first milestone of the project would be achieved by June, subject to the weather conditions.
Amicus curiae Jyotsna Rewal Dua argued that the progress of the work is not good and the way things are shaping up is also not satisfactory.
Taking a serious note of the government stand that the delay in the execution of the work is due to the bad weather conditions, the bench observed: “The construction technology has undergone a sea change and the advancement in the field of construction has transformed the entire world.”
It has been experienced that with the help of technology, even in the zones where temperature remains in minus, the construction work is being carried out smoothly, it said.
The amicus curiae pointed out a World Bank report which disclosed that project consultant Loius Berger Group is not performing the job satisfactorily.
The court also issued notice to the project consultant’s team leader Andrew Boghle and asked him to appear personally in the court on the next date of hearing. It also asked him to file a status report by or before the next date.