Odisha govt issues notice to firm for delay, poor quality work at Eco Retreat

BHUBANESWAR: Bookings for two of the seven sites of Eco Retreat, state’s flagship glamping event, have been pushed to uncertainty.
The state tourism department on Wednesday, the day when all the seven sites were inaugurated by chief minister Naveen Patnaik, served a notice on the private firm engaged to set up, operate and manage the project at Koraput and at Pati Sonapur (Ganjam) for delay and substandard works.
It gave a 72-hour deadline for corrective action. The firm on Friday sought time till December 20 to make these ready and allow bookings from December 21.
In a notice to the Rajasthan based firm, state tourism director Sachin R Jadhav pointed out “an embarrassing situation of cancelling the bookings made by certain guests on December 16 and December 19.”
“The incidence of cancelation of bookings because of lack of readiness on your part has caused a damaging dent to the brand image of Eco Retreat Odisha and Odisha Tourism,” he wrote.
The tourism director pointed out that these were earlier supposed to be ready by December 8 but despite being given extra time, these were not ready.
Jadhav wrote that these sites are not confirming to the quality standards as envisaged.
The firm was yet to respond to TOI queries on the government notice. A government officer, however, said it on Friday sought time till Monday to make the infrastructure ready. It has cited unforeseen circumstances such as cyclone warning and heavy rain earlier this month. On quality standards, the firm has offered to replace the materials which are not meeting the quality norms in phases.
The event in its third year has expanded from five in its second year to seven this time with Koraput and Pati Sonapur being the new sites. Three different firms are involved in the project works for the seven sites. The government has selected the three firms this year for a period of five years from 2021-2026 with an estimated total promised spending of around Rs 200 crore. Inspired By