<p>Despite Minister Suresh Kumar’s intervention to procure labourers from Karnataka Police Housing Corporation Ltd, Karnataka Urban Water Supply and Drainage Board (KUWSDB) and Public Works Department (PWD), nothing seems to have worked till date. The minister recently held a meeting with the representatives of all those working in the project to overcome the stalemate.<br /><br />According to officials, the labourers had left for their native places during the State elections and when they returned they went to work on different projects in the City. BWSSB officials said unlike the Metro project where the ‘pre-cast slabs’ are bought, in the Cauvery project they have to be prepared it at the site. As preparing pre-cast slabs consumes a lot of time and resources, they were facing a labour shortage. We do not have the provision to change contract clauses to bring pre-cast slabs to go ahead with the project, the official lamented.<br /><br />However, some of the contractors like Gammon India Limited and Larsen and Toubro (L&T) are training their labourers to upgrade them as skilled labourers. This initiative is helping the Board to extract maximum work from the existing workforce. Most of the labourers working for the project are from West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Odisha and Tamil Nadu. <br /><br />In latest progress report of the project, nearly 67 per cent work related to pipeline laying, 48 per cent related to reservoirs and 54 per cent related to water treatment plants has been completed. BWSSB is under immense pressure to complete the project by December 2011 and to begin trials by January-February. The actual date of completion is March 2012 and Cauvery IV stage II phase is expected to supply additional 500 MLD of water to the City which is reeling under severe water shortage.</p>
<p>Despite Minister Suresh Kumar’s intervention to procure labourers from Karnataka Police Housing Corporation Ltd, Karnataka Urban Water Supply and Drainage Board (KUWSDB) and Public Works Department (PWD), nothing seems to have worked till date. The minister recently held a meeting with the representatives of all those working in the project to overcome the stalemate.<br /><br />According to officials, the labourers had left for their native places during the State elections and when they returned they went to work on different projects in the City. BWSSB officials said unlike the Metro project where the ‘pre-cast slabs’ are bought, in the Cauvery project they have to be prepared it at the site. As preparing pre-cast slabs consumes a lot of time and resources, they were facing a labour shortage. We do not have the provision to change contract clauses to bring pre-cast slabs to go ahead with the project, the official lamented.<br /><br />However, some of the contractors like Gammon India Limited and Larsen and Toubro (L&T) are training their labourers to upgrade them as skilled labourers. This initiative is helping the Board to extract maximum work from the existing workforce. Most of the labourers working for the project are from West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Odisha and Tamil Nadu. <br /><br />In latest progress report of the project, nearly 67 per cent work related to pipeline laying, 48 per cent related to reservoirs and 54 per cent related to water treatment plants has been completed. BWSSB is under immense pressure to complete the project by December 2011 and to begin trials by January-February. The actual date of completion is March 2012 and Cauvery IV stage II phase is expected to supply additional 500 MLD of water to the City which is reeling under severe water shortage.</p>
