A boon for 25,600 Ha of land
On February 20th, 2024, the Hon’ble Chief Minister of Odisha, Shri. Naveen Patnaik, inaugurated the Gangadhar Meher Lift Irrigation Project that will meet the irrigation needs of 25,600 Ha upland areas in the districts of Bargarh and Sonepur. Awarded in March 2021 by the Department of Water Resources (DoWR), Government of Odisha, the WET IC project team led by Project Manager, Rajasekar S, completed the project on time, which won them L&T Construction’s Timely Delivery Award – 2023.
Rajasekar S
Project Manager
We have been able to deliver on time thanks to our meticulous planning, timely mobilization of resources & procurement of material, effective stakeholder management, and most importantly, excellent teamwork.
The project scope had involved the construction of an intake structure with pressure main from RD 0.00 Km to 34.10 Km along the right bank of Bargarh Main Canal (BMC) on an EPC turnkey basis, including a power connectivity system and O&M for 5 years.
“We have been able to deliver on time thanks to our meticulous planning, timely mobilization of resources & procurement of material, effective stakeholder management, and most importantly, excellent teamwork,” says a delighted Rajasekar. Not only did they get perfect designs from EDRC to start with but the same were optimized that reduced cost of construction. The excellent rapport that the EDRC team built with both the consultant and client went a long way to get rapid approvals for equally rapid progress. The team’s bold move to procure 33,735 MT of MS plates from SAIL, Tata and JSPL even before the contractual milestone to fabricate 3.00 m dia MS pipes fetched them huge cost benefits. They obtained ROU & ROW clearance on time to lay the pressure main pipes with close coordination between local villagers, farmers, land owners, and client & district administration.
The steady tale of quick, on time deliveries continued. The three inlet ducts connected with the Bargarh Main Canal and the tail race channel of the hydro power plant were completed in 2 months from the start of the project, as shutdown work commenced during the monsoon. With their fabrication yard located away from the nearby villages, pipe fabrication and coating works clicked into top gear in two shifts, and work was completed two months ahead of schedule. Their automated process of applying food grade epoxy coating inside and coal tar epoxy coating outside the pipes not only saved them considerable time but also won them appreciation from the client and consultants. The factory licence and statutory approvals too were obtained by the site team on time.
All the required resources like workmen, materials, and machinery, including higher-capacity cranes for pipe laying works, were speedily mobilized, to keep the project on track. The team unloaded two 10 MVA transformers directly onto a pedestal to avoid damages as well as to save time.The pipe carrying structures at the three river crossings at Jira, Grisul and Danta spanning around 500 m were also completed within three months much to the client’s delight.
At the end of the project, Rajasekar and team can hold their heads high, for they have achieved something very
difficult – Customer Delight, keeping profitability intact – while setting new benchmarks for on-time completion.
For a more in-depth look at the Birsa Munda Project, read our recent coverage in the April–September 2023 issue of ECC Concord.