Mahbubnagar: Khanapur villagers stage protest against use of low quality soil for reservoir bund

Mahbubnagar: The Khanpur villagers and youth association leaders have alleged that the contractors were using low quality black soil to lay the foundation for the Udandapur reservoir bund. While staging a protest, over 50 villagers reached the Udandapur reservoir work site and expressed their protest against the contractors and concerned engineers and alleged the officials were not maintaining quality in the construction works of the reservoir bund.

The villagers lead by youth president Srisailam along with Khanapur vice-Sarpanch Rangaiah reached the reservoir work site and staged a protest. They alleged that the engineers and the contractors were resorting to various irregularities and not maintaining quality in construction works. They fear that if black soil was not used at the basement, it might lead to seepage of water and later it may pose danger to their village, which is located on the Udandapur reservoir bank.

"The basement of the bund must have many layers of black soil to contain the seepage of water through the bund. However, the contractors are using low quality black soil and in some places they are also using red soil instead of black soil. This will pose a grave danger to the bund as it might lead to excess seepage in future and damage our village. We are demanding the contractors and officials concerned to follow the correct standards of construction and use only quality black soil to set the basement of the reservoir bund, or else we will not let the contractor take up the works," said Srisailam.

With the construction of Udandapur reservoir under Palamuru Ranga Reddy Lift Irrigation project going at brisk pace near Khanapur village of Jadcherla mandal in Mahbubnagar district, the villagers of Khanapur have observed that the concerned contractors were using low quality soil. When the locals tried to contact the concerned contractors and also complain against the issue with the engineers, the contractors are not taking any heed and in turn threatening the villagers.