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News India Live, Digital Desk: A big case of misuse of public’s hard-earned money in the name of rural water supply schemes has come to light in Jharkhand. Huge irregularities and technical flaws have been found in the ambitious schemes of Rs 2338 crore of the State Drinking Water and Sanitation Department. Internal investigation and physical verification conducted by the department has revealed that even after spending crores of rupees, the dream of tap water in thousands of villages is unfulfilled. After this report, there has been a stir in the administrative corridors and it is considered certain that the culprit engineers and contractors will be punished.
‘Water in every house’ on paper, dry taps on ground
According to the investigation report, many big rural water supply schemes costing Rs 2338 crore have proved to be technically failures. In many districts, the work of laying pipelines was shown to be complete, but the water tanks (ESR) are either incomplete or have leakage problems. The most shocking thing is that at many places crores of rupees were paid without ensuring the availability of ‘source’ (water source). As a result, even after months of laying the pipes, the villagers have not received a single drop of water.
‘Nexus’ of contractors and engineers exposed
Departmental investigation also found that the government treasury was defrauded by using substandard material. Ignoring the prescribed standards, pipes were buried at low depth, which are breaking due to the passing of heavy vehicles. The report has indicated that due to collusion between some senior officials of the department and influential contractors, bills worth crores were passed without the work being completed. The department is now preparing to blacklist all those firms which have been negligent in their work.
Most irregularities found in these districts
Districts like Palamu, Garhwa, Giridih and Chatra are at the top in terms of irregularities in water supply schemes. In these districts, the cost of the schemes was increased on the pretext of geographical challenges, but the result on the ground was zero. In many villages, the equipment of solar based water supply system has been stolen or is lying damaged, and no one is coming forward to repair it. The department has clarified that the schemes which have been paid for and are not operational will be recovered from the concerned engineers.
Government strict: Instructions for special audit and recovery
The Secretary of the Drinking Water and Sanitation Department has taken a tough stand in this matter and has sought answers from the executive engineers of all the divisions. Instructions have been given to conduct a ‘special audit’ of the flawed schemes. The government says that the “Nal-Jal” scheme is a priority of the Prime Minister and the Chief Minister, hence corruption will not be tolerated at any level. In the coming days, the heat of this scam may reach many influential people.