Jind residents protest use of substandard material in park redevelopment project

Deepender Deswal

Jind, May 5

The redevelopment of Dhaba Park in the Urban Estate Block-A in Jind town was stopped after local residents complained that substandard material was being used for the work.

The work resumed only after Jind Municipal Council officials assured them that good quality work would be ensured.

The Jind Municipal Council had recently allotted the tender for the construction and redevelopment of the park to a contractor at a cost of Rs 28.94 lakh. The contractor started the work of the walls after dismantling the old and damaged walls of the park.

The local residents, however, found that the work was started without completely dismantling the old walls. New layers of bricks were being laid on the old ones. Local residents gathered at the site and found that a low quality of cement was being used. Sandeep Malik, a resident, said even the old bricks were being re-used in the construction work.

Malik said they immediately informed senior officials of the Municipal Council, including the Executive Officer, MC engineer and the local Municipal Councillor. On getting the complaint, MC officials sent Junior Engineer Pankaj on the spot while councillor Mukesh Chahal, too, reached the spot, he said.

After inspection, they directed the contractor and the workers to replace the cement bags with quality cement. They also found that there were no heaps of new bricks which indicated that old bricks are being reused.

Municipal Engineer Amit Sheokand said that the Junior Engineer would ensure quality work at the site. He said the contractor would not be allowed to use sub-standard material and he had been directed to complete the works strictly as per the terms and conditions of the contract.

Malik said the work was later resumed after the contractor replaced the cement bags and restarted the construction of the walls by dismantling the entire old wall.