House panel reviews JICA project for Cuttack

The Estimates Committee of Odisha Assembly has expressed displeasure over the delay in progress of the ambitious drainage and sewerage project, currently undertaken by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), for the city.
Headed by legislator from Mahanga, Pratap Jena, a four-member team of the panel visited the district yesterday and reviewed the progress made in several under-construction projects in the district along with the Rs 750-crore JICA project.
Jena said he had instructed the project authorities to report to the Committee within ten days detailing about the causes of the delay.
City legislator Debashis Samantray, who is also a member of the Estimates Committee, said a private company had inked an agreement with the state government to maintain the JICA project for seven years soon after its completion.

The district administration and the local civic authorities were also directed by the committee to oversee the project and report the committee about any impediments in completion of the project.
JICA project envisages construction of separate drainage and sewerage systems in the city with the help of technical knowhow from the US, Japan and France. The project was expected to be completed by December 2014.