Spots improper planning, lapses in Kup, Bandipora projects
Irfan Tramboo
SRINAGAR, Mar 30: The Comptroller Auditor General (CAG) in its latest report has identified various lapses in the execution of several projects in Kupwara and Bandipora by the Irrigation and Flood Control Department (I&FC), Kashmir, leading not only to excess expenditure but also in delay in completion of the intended works taken up years ago.
The CAG in its report said that the I&FC department took up the execution of work on water storage tanks without acquiring the private land and seeking prior clearance from the Forest Department as well as the Defence Authority resulting in wasteful expenditure of Rs 3.67 crores in the frontier district of Kupwara.
As per the report, to provide irrigational facilities to the farmers for agricultural activities in Tehsil Handwara and Kupwara, the Executive Engineer (EE), Irrigation and Flood Control (I&FC) Division, Handwara, proposed three projects involving the construction of 27 storage tanks in Brinyal Rajwad, Natnussa Kandi and Rajwad at an estimated cost Rs 26.42 crore under the Border Area Development Programme (BADP) in the year 2013.
The stipulated period for completion of works, as per the report, was two years from the date of sanction of the project and said that 11 out of a total of 27 storage tanks, had no requirement for acquisition of private, forest land, and only one out of 27 storage tanks to be constructed was fully functional in March 2019.
An amount of Rs 9.90 crore was released during the period from 2013 to 2019 and the Division had incurred an expenditure of Rs 6.43 crore as of March 2019.
“Scrutiny of records in October 2017 revealed that despite the availability of Rs 9.90 crore, an amount of Rs 3.47 crore which is 35 per cent of the total allotment, could not be utilised. Further, out of the 27 storage tanks, only one storage tank was completed,” the report said.
It added that out of the 16 storage tanks that were proposed to be constructed requiring a total of 41.05 hectares of private, forest land, nine storage tanks, were taken up for construction without clearance being obtained from the Forest Department or private land being acquired in July 2019 for executing these works.
“An expenditure of Rs 3.37 crore was incurred during the period 2013 to 2019 on these nine storage tanks. As regards the nine storage tanks (estimated cost: Rs 11.49 crore) involving the use of 35.15 hectares of private/ forest land an expenditure of Rs 3.37 crores was incurred on storage tanks that were not complete, and only two storage tanks were semi-functional,” it said, adding that the expenditure of Rs 3.04 crore incurred on seven incomplete and non-functional storage tanks was wasted.
Similarly, the reports said, in the case of the 11 storage tanks with an estimated cost: of Rs 7.80 crore, which did not require any private, forest land, an expenditure of Rs 3.06 crore was incurred (2013 to 2019) on the execution of work of ten storage tanks, while the work one storage tank was not taken up due to land dispute
Further, the report said, only one storage tank out of these ten storage tanks was fully functional and six were semi-functional.
“Besides, the three remaining storage tanks were not even partially functional despite the expenditure of Rs 63.19 lakh being incurred on these tanks. Out of these three storage tanks, two were abandoned after incurring an expenditure of Rs 43.59 lakh,” the report underlined.
On being pointed out this in audit, the CAG said, EE, I&FC Division, Handwara stated in July 2019 that due to paucity and delay in the release of funds, indents with Forest Department could not be processed and private land also could not be acquired.
The reply, the CAG said, is not tenable as the Department had not initiated any action for land acquisition as seen from the DPRs except for one work, while as the land required for the other works had not been acquired in July 2020.
“Improper planning for taking up the construction of storage tanks without acquiring the private land, seeking prior clearance from Forest Department/ Defence Authority despite the availability of funds resulted in wasteful expenditure of Rs 3.67 crore,” the report stated.
In the case of Lift Irrigation Scheme by the I&FC Department in Bandipora’s Sumbal, the report stated the department had resorted to unfruitful expenditure on such schemes as well as non-selection of a suitable site for construction of pumping station before taking up the execution of the works for a lift irrigation scheme.
The CAG said that such misadventures by the Executive Engineer, Irrigation and Flood Control Division, Sumbal led to a revision of the cost of the scheme and the inability to arrange additional funds over eight years for completion of the scheme, rendered expenditure of Rs 2.23 crore on the scheme unfruitful.
To provide assured irrigation to 1,436 acres of land from Shilvat to Sumbal and Wangipora to Ankhola area in Sumbal-Sonawari constituency of district Bandipora, the Executive Engineer (EE), Irrigation and Flood Control (I&FC) Division, Sumbal, as per the report, had taken up the work of construction of Babajangi-Wangipora-Khurwan Lift Irrigation Scheme (LIS), during 2007-08 at an estimated cost of Rs 1.77 crore, under Accelerated Irrigation Benefit Programme and the scheme was proposed to be completed in one working season.
As per the report, the audit scrutiny of the records of EE, I&FC Division, Sumbal and EE, Mechanical Irrigation (MI) Division, Shadipora in March 2018 revealed that the original site for construction of vertical pumping station of the scheme was selected without adequate initial survey and was subsequently found not feasible. “This was changed in January 2009 after the award of contract,” it said.
Interestingly, an expenditure of Rs 2.23 crore was incurred on the execution of the scheme against its original cost of Rs 1.77 crore, resulting in an unauthorised expenditure of Rs 0.46 crore.
Further, the CAG underlined that the said scheme was not functional in June 2020, while the electro-mechanical equipment purchased at Rs 0.83 crore by the MI Division, Shadipora also was not installed. “These equipments were lying idle in the stores or at the worksite as of June 2020,”
“…the additional funds of Rs 0.88 crore proposed for completion of the scheme could also not be arranged over a period of eight years which rendered the expenditure of Rs 2.23 crore unfruitful,” the CAG stated.
Trending Now
E-Paper
Follow our WhatsApp channel