New Delhi: Itanagar Municipal Corporation (IMC) Mayor Tame Phassang called on union minister for food processing industries, Pashupati Kumar Paras and submitted a representation seeking the waiving and reconsideration for a refund of grants to ₹305,943 lakh with 10% per interest accrued per annum for the construction of a modern abattoir in the state capital.
Paras assured to look into the matter and said he would visit the state in August.
Phassang and his IMC team met the union minister at his office in New Delhi on Friday.
He told the minister that the proposal for setting up a modern slaughterhouse was submitted by the Urban Development and Housing department on April 25, 2013, to the ministry. The matter was, however, transferred to the corporation after the creation of the IMC.
Phassang further said the work was awarded on a turnkey basis to Micro Transmission System, a Noida-based company in 2015.
The execution of the work started at Jullang village but the public had agitated against the construction, stating that such a project may badly affect the health and hygiene of the area, he said.
As a result, the site had to be abandoned. Later on, the state government requested the Ministry of Food Processing Industries and in 2017, the shifting of the site from Jullang to Chimpu was approved.
“The date of completion of the project was fixed on June 15, 2019. Accordingly, the work at Chimpu was started in 2017,” Phassang said, adding that 70% of the work has been completed with machinery to be procured and installed. The machinery has already been booked.
The mayor said one of the major setbacks in this instant case was the central share of ₹305.18 lakh deposited directly in the IMC’s escrow account in 2018 instead of the state exchequer bypassing the norms. This led to a delay in the release of the state share.
“During the course of these technical hindrances, the country suffered huge financial loss due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the state government was no exception. As such, the state government was not in a position to allocate any fund for any ongoing project in the state,” he said.
Phassang appealed to Paras to waive the proposal of refunding and retrieving of project cost and reconsider any financial extension or as the case may be for one-time relaxation into the matter.
