SKARDU, Oct 10: Local people are expressing concern over flawed planning and poor quality of work on a canal project in the area.

Two canals, one 71,000-foot long and 79,000-foot long, on the left and right banks are a component of the Rs550 million multipurpose Sadpara dam project, launched in December 2005 by the Central China Power Group (CCPG) under the supervision of Wapda to irrigate 15,500 acres barren land.

A survey conducted by Dawn, found that pace of work on the left bank canal was quite slow. Besides, their have been complaints about mismanagement and poor planning.

To build a two-megawatt hydel power station on the foothills of Kushmarah mountain, the Wapda engineers had scaled down the level of the canal to a village side which has created several problems.

Firstly, it will not provide any advantage to a vast tract of land located on the upper side of the canal. Secondly, the canal goes through cultivated area, devastating hundreds of kanals of farm land and devouring hundreds of thousands of standing trees, including orchards. Thirdly, it has disturbed existing several small water channel system. On way to its flow, there are several water channels or crossings.

To maintain the crossings, the Chinese company has laid cemented pipes six feet below the surface level and has constructed chambers on both sides. The silt filling the chambers can be cleaned but the pipe cannot be cleaned if silt accumulates in it.

On the water crossing points, the pipe system will never be successful as the pipes will be filled with sand and silt.

For these reasons, the project was bound to be a failure, a local man said.

It was learnt that sub-contractors were not paying attention to the quality of work to complete the work in stipulated time.

It was observed that substandard sand mixed with soil which stood rejected by local people for use in constructing houses was being used in the construction of the canal.

Due to lack of understanding between Wapda consultants and company engineers, differences have appeared between them on the use of water stopper.

It is learnt that the use of water stopper had been restricted by Wapda for being costly but the CCPG was using substandard water stoppers and sending bills of millions of rupees to Wapda.