GUWAHATI, Dec 14 - The Gauhati High Court has admitted a writ petition filed by the All Assam Water Resources Contractors� Association on matters related to release of the funds under the flood management programmes (FMPs), which has been hanging fire since 2011.
The Contractors� Association alleges that the funds meant for the FMPs have not been released as per the guidelines of the Union Government for quite a long time. This has been affecting implementation of the FMP works. The devastating floods this year were a fallout of the failure of the governments to release the FMP funds. The Association maintains that in the next flood season the situation would turn more serious if the same attitude of the government continues in this respect.
The attitude of the State and the Union governments in this regard is also contradictory and this has been causing serious hardships to the contractors. The situation has come to such a pass that the contractors are yet to get a total sum of Rs 1014.26 crore released against the work they completed under 89 schemes of the Eleventh and Twelfth Five Year Plans, said Association president Muhi Bargohain and general secretary Arabinda Hazarika in a statement here today.
The Gauhati High Court on December 11 directed the respondents, the Government of India and the Government of Assam, to submit their affidavit in this case within the next four weeks.