If paperwork is anything to go by, the Juguniya-Birnagar Road Upgradation Project in Bijayanagar completed in the last fiscal year. The contractor received the final instalment of the budget before July after completion of the work. However, road upgradation work is still ongoing along the road stretch.

The locals claim that the upgradation work has not only been delayed, but it has also been substandard.

“The road is almost the same as it was before. The contractor just spread 8-10 trolleys of sand and pebble in the name of road upgradation,” said Govardan Yadav, a local.

The locals expressed their dissatisfaction with the elected representatives, stating that they have failed to ensure timely completion of work. They blame the representatives for protecting the contractor.

The Rs 5 five million contract of upgrading the Juguniya-Birnagar Road was awarded to Amar Construction Service. According to the agreement, the construction company has to gravel the road and construct six culverts along the road section.

The locals say the contractor, following a protest from the villagers, laid sand and pebble in some parts of the road in the name of construction.

“Hume pipes have been laid in six places to make the culvert, but the work is yet to complete,” said Yadav.

The disgruntled locals also complained that they were unaware of the contract and budget allocation of the project.

“There are no boards or signages that mention the project. When we went to the rural municipal office, nobody answered our queries regarding the project,” said Rajendra Yadav, another local.

Pradip Kumar Chaudhary, an engineer at the local unit, admitted of issuing the budget without completing the work.

“The local unit issued the budget after preparing the necessary paperwork by the end of the last fiscal year,” Chaudhary said.

Refuting the locals’ claims that the construction work is still ongoing, he said, “The work continued until mid-August. It is now complete.”

Rabindra Prasad Chaudhary, the chief administrative officer of the local body, said that the budget was released in the last fiscal year after officials from the rural municipality monitored the project.

“But the work continued till mid-August,” he said.

Employees at the local body said they tried to stop the budget allocation before the work completion but in vain. They said the elected representatives put pressure on them to do so.

When the Post tried to reach the local unit’s Deputy Chief Laxmi Chaudhary, she refused to comment.