Shillong, Aug 27: An amount of Rs 538.44 crore has been sanctioned under State Plan for implementation of the New Shillong Water Supply Scheme Phase-I. The project was accorded administrative approval on March 15, this year.
The EPC contract was awarded to M/s BAC Infratech Private Limited in June, 2024 and the project is in the initial stages of implementation. However, the government is yet to sanction the New Shillong Water Supply Scheme Phase-II, which is proposed at a cost of Rs 1,111.56 crore.
This was informed by Public Health Engineering (PHE) Minister, Marcuise N Marak, while replying to a call attention notice moved by opposition VPP legislator from Mawryngkneng, Heaving Stone Kharpran, in the Assembly on Tuesday.
He said that the phase-I of the project envisages construction of major components viz, construction of dam, 2 jack well with a pump house on top of the well to house the machineries and associated equipments, construction of stage I & II pumping system, power station, pumping main, construction of water treatment plant, clear water sump etc and appurtenant works.
The contract for the work construction of work supply system for New Shillong Township (Phase-I) is an EPC(Engineering, Procurement & Construction) contract where the scope of work comprises of survey, investigation, design and procuring materials & equipments, construction, installation & execution of the entire water supply system.
On the demand to allot work to local contractors, the minister said in order to provide the most modern and efficient process of operation and monitoring of the entire project, all components under Phase I of the project shall be installed with SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition)/IoT (Internet of Things) system.
SCADA control system shall be established from the source point to the water treatment plant with LAN (Local Area Network) compatibility and remote capturing of data with the network. Automation of the total system in the command control room shall also be established. The Contractor shall also incorporate the SCADA process for pressure and leakage monitoring in the pipe system.
Hence, the entire project shall be governed by SCADA/IoT systems which in general is an automatically mechanized system that controls all the components at a central location, in which operation and monitoring of the entire system is being done. This system is extremely important for future operation & maintenance of the scheme. It will help to immediately identify defects, breakdowns, water flow, water quantity, water quality etc, and it will also be beneficial to take up any remedial measures promptly and instantly.
“Therefore, the various components under Phase-I of the project cannot be bifurcated and it is not at all feasible to allot the work components to multiple firms/contractors keeping in mind the sophistication involved and the specialized nature of the work involving installation of SCADA/IoT system. The firm entrusted with the work shall have to be very capable, experienced, technically competent, and highly acquainted with large projects involving SCADA/IoT systems,” Marak said.
Further, the minister informed that the Phase-II of the project is yet to receive sanction. The phase-II envisages laying of clear water pumping main, clear water gravity main, construction of clear water reservoirs and laying of distribution system including appurtenant works.
He said that The New Shillong Water Supply Project has been designed for total integration of the whole system of both Phase-I & Phase-II.
“Therefore, the Phase-II of the project which is an extension of the Phase-I, shall also have automation control and SCADA/IoT systems,” he added while also informing that Smart metering has been proposed for the distribution network and reservoirs for incoming and outgoing flow data and smart billing has also been proposed using automation systems by gathering data into one platform i.e., the command control room for accurate upto date reports. Hence, significant technicalities shall also be involved in the implementation of the phase-II of the project.
Under phase-II, the minister said that for effective central control of the operation and monitoring of the entire integrated system driven by SCADA /IoT systems, the execution has to be under an EPC contract so that even last mile issues are resolved comprehensively, failing which the efficacy of the water supply would be severely compromised and accountability that should be there for such a gargantuan project, from the start to end user, would be missing thereby defeating the purpose of such a construction meant to supply a vital resource to the new center of governance for the state.
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