Mohinder Verma
JAMMU, Dec 28: Taking serious note of Rs 6.23 crore worth water supply scheme of the Public Health Engineering Department existing only on the papers, the Government has ordered departmental enquiry with the direction to the Inquiry Officer to furnish report and recommendations within a period of 15 days positively.
Official sources told EXCELSIOR that as the preliminary enquiry has revealed that the scheme meant to provide drinking water to the vast population in Chanapora-Zabgulla area of the Budgam district of Kashmir valley is existing only on the papers, the Commissioner Secretary, PHE Department, Dr Pawan Kotwal vide Order No.364-PW(Hyd) dated December 26, 2013, has ordered departmental inquiry to be conducted by IAS officer Shyam Vinod Meena.
The IAS officer, who is Additional Secretary to Government, PHE/Irrigation and Flood Control Department, has been directed to furnish report/recommendations within a period of 15 days so that further action as warranted under the Inquiries Act could be taken and the responsibility fixed, sources said.
“On the basis of the inquiry report, the Department would charge sheet the erring officers, who were hand-in-glove in reflecting the scheme completed on papers and misleading the Government besides depriving the people of the drinking water for years together”, they said.
Though the scheme was actually mooted at a cost of Rs 1.46 crore in the 1980s to provide drinking water to the vast population yet its fate continued to hang in balance for years together. In the year 1997-98, the cost of the scheme was revised at Rs 6.23 crore. However, those at the helm of affairs in the PHE Department never tried to ascertain the progress on the ground and the officers associated with the execution of the scheme made good use of seniors’ deep slumber and embezzled the money at their whims and fancy by submitting false reports, sources said.
They informed that scheme became topic of discussion during the District Development Board meeting of Budgam for three consecutive years but every time the PHE Department conveyed that scheme has been completed. However, during 2011-12 financial year Planning Department’s officers in the District Development Commissioner (DDC) Budgam’s office were asked to come up with all possible details about the scheme that too following much hue and cry by the elected representatives of people, who wanted to ascertain as to which areas were getting water supply if the scheme had been completed.
On the basis of preliminary report from its officers, Planning Department asked the DDC to constitute a multi-disciplinary committee and the same came into being on March 14, 2013 with DDC Budgam as its Chairman and Chief Planning Officer (CPO), District Treasury Officer (DTO) and Superintending Engineer PWD as its members.
The multi-disciplinary committee, during spot visit, found that only some supply lines were laid while as neither intake nor the filtration plant of the scheme was constructed on ground, sources said, adding the multi-disciplinary committee submitted its report on May 30, 2013 and accordingly the same was forwarded to the Administrative Secretary of PHE, Irrigation and Flood Control Department.
On the instructions of Minister for PHE, Irrigation and Flood Control, Sham Lal Sharma, the Commissioner Secretary of the department, Dr Pawan Kotwal sought necessary information from the Chief Engineer, Kashmir including the names of the officers, who were responsible for carrying out inspection of work and had generated bills for various works on the scheme.
“Now, on the basis of information received from the Chief Engineer, a departmental enquiry has been ordered, which is a pre-requisite step under the Inquiries Act to charge-sheet the erring officers”, sources said.
In response to a question, sources said that during preliminary enquiry it came to fore that erring officers purchased pipes without carrying out work on intake and filtration plant, adding “the sole objective behind purchasing supply pipes without carrying out work on other components of the scheme was to embezzle funds. Moreover, the pipes were purchased beyond the earmarked funds”.
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