Nishikant Khajuria
JAMMU, Dec 17: Fishy payments by the Fisheries Department in execution of Hygienic Wholesale Retail Fish Market at Narwal Jammu are delaying in handing over of this much needed complex even after more than one year since its completion.
Non availability of record for the payment of CC (Contractor’s Claim) Ist bill worth Rs 54 lakh for the said work, processed from the Sub-Division Kashmir of the Aquaculture Engineer (AEE) Fisheries Department, is delaying final payment to the contractor and thus handing over of the structure to the department, official sources told the Excelsior.
Despite repeated reminders by the contractor as well as the Office of Aquaculture Engineer (AEE) Fisheries Department Jammu, the Senior Aquaculture Engineer (Xen), Fisheries Department, J&K, Srinagar, is not furnishing the reply on the record of the suspicious payment of CC Ist bill but directing his junior officer (AEE) in Jammu to attend Srinagar office along with JE concerned with relevant record for reconciliation and clearing the confusion, sources added.
However, sources further said, the concerned Junior Engineer Jammu, who was associated with this work, has categorically acknowledged that he had not framed any claim of the contractor prior to the claim, which the Srinagar office had forwarded as CC Ist of the work, executed through predecessor Aquaculture Engineer Kashmir (AEE), who was then holding the additional charge of Jammu province.
While elaborating, official sources said that the payment in question was released by Xen in collusion with AEE against supply of material, cement and TMT steel, in alleged violation of terms and conditions of allotment of the contract as well as without adopting due procedure. Further, there was no record of the said supplied material in the official stock register, sources in Srinagar office of the Fisheries Department added.
As necessary record for the said payment is not being produced by the Srinagar office because of the irregularities, the department is holding up final settlement of the payment to the contractor owing to confusion and apprehension of double drawal.
In an attempt to hush up the matter, which is apparently a fit case for the Vigilance probe, sources said that the top officer responsible for releasing the payment, has also held up APRs of his juniors and allegedly blackmailing the latter to clear the final bills.
Fishy actions and ulterior intentions of top officers in the Department were evident from very start of this ambitious project of the construction of Hygienic Wholesale cum Retail Fish Market at Narwal Jammu with an allotted cost of Rs 1,60,91,110 for the civil work in the year 2013.
The chronology of events reveals that a month before allotment of contract (26-12-2013), the Aquaculture Engineer (Xen) was assigned the additional charge of the post of Chief Aquaculture Engineer (SE) in addition to his own duties, vide order number 127 of 2013, dated 09-11-2013, by then Director Fisheries even as the said promotion was in violation of the Service Rules.
Thereafter, within 10 days of giving additional charge of SE to the Xen, Aquaculture Engineer (AEE) Fisheries Jammu was stripped of works pertaining to projects and the charge of the same was assigned to Aquaculture Engineer Fisheries (AEE) Srinagar, vide order number 137 of 2013, dated 18-11-2013, issued by the then Director Fisheries, without substantial reasons.
Hence, a project worth crores of rupees in Jammu has been messed up by fishy actions and payments by the Fisheries Department with the result that despite completion of the work for more than one year, the structure is yet to be handed over by the contractor while the accused authorities are trying to hush up the matter.
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