DERA GHAZI KHAN, May 30 A one-year Manika Canal brick lining project worth Rs70 million which started in 2007 is still incomplete and work is going on at snail's pace, which is affecting the life of the citizens. The rescheduled deadline of the project is approaching next month, a claim which is unlikely to be met keeping in view the progress of work at the site.

The canal that flows in the eastern side of the city had been a recreational place for the residents. When DG Khan Canal was constructed in 1968-69 in the western side, Manika Canal was closed down by the irrigation department but this closure turned the fresh watercourse into a drain indeed.

In 2007, a project worth Rs70 million was initiated to restore the canal and to brick line its seven-kilometre portion passing through the city which was inaugurated by former president Farooq Ahmed Khan Leghari.

However, as the project progressed, it encountered numerous bottlenecks, including complaints of use of substandard materials in the construction by the contractor. As many as three departmental inquiries to fix the responsibility of substandard construction and ascertain the cause of delays have been ordered but none of them finalised to-date.

Neither responsibility of use of substandard material has been fixed on any one nor has the brick lining of the canal been expedited despite special directives of Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif to complete the project at the earliest.

It appears that the authorities concerned have shelved the findings of these inquiries to conceal their own negligence or wrongdoings. One of such probes was conducted by an inquiry committee consisting of SDOs Mehr Yuonis and Amanullah and headed by an executive engineer from Multan.

Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif visited the district twice this year and directed the irrigation department to complete the project as soon as possible and fix the responsibility of use of substandard material but it seems that all these directions have fallen on deaf ears.

On several public complaints, Captain Asad (retired), a former district coordination officer, had also recommended the authorities concerned to impose fine on the contractor besides taking appropriate action against the irrigation department officials involved in the delays and the use of substandard materials. However, nothing such has happened so far.

Rana Sajjad Ahmed, a local resident, told Dawn that delays in the accomplishment of the brick lining project were affecting the routine life of the citizens living in the vicinity.

Talking to Dawn, contractor Marghoob Butt said that the tehsil municipal administration (TMA) was required to lay a separate sewage line to save the canal from being used as drain but it had not. The sewage water was constantly being released into the under-construction canal which was indeed hampering the construction work.

Irrigation chief engineer Syed Parvaiz Akhtar Jafari told Dawn that his department had issued several notices to the TMA to lay a separate sewage line, but to no avail. He maintained that matter was being investigated to fix the responsibility of delays and use of substandard materials in the brick lining of the canal.

TMO Muhammad Khan Wattoo said that he had recently been appointed and could comment only after perusing the record.