Govt fund allegedly embezzled in Coast Canal work of Balasore
The restoration work of the historic Coast Canal in Balasore district of Odisha is only for the name sake. Enough fund has been provided for restoration of the Coast Canal, but government money has allegedly been embezzled.
In Balasore, it has been alleged that corruption has been done in the Rs 8 crore coast canal project. Here is a detailed report.
Balasore is now in the news for looting illegal money in the name of construction. After the executive engineer of the Irrigation Department was arrested by the Vigilance, the Water Resources Department is now allegedly on the same road.
The two departments execute the same type of work. In the name of new water supply or canal excavation and restoration, the entire project was washed away merely after a year of construction. It is alleged that the govt fund was embezzled in the name of rain.
A similar incident has now been seen in the historic Coast Canal of Balasore. In order to get water at any time of the year and to increase maximum fish production and water storage capacity, a proposal was made to dig a coastal canal in Bhimpur area of Remuna constituency of Balasore district for fishermen in the coastal area.
A survey was conducted on this proposal by the Fisheries Department of the Central Government and a grant of Rs. 7 crore 9 lakh 96 thousand 160 was received. With this money, the canal excavation work is going on from Kantiachira mouth to Bhimpur village’s coastal canal and going to Pahi area.
It will be dug for 10 kilometers. In this, the canal will be 19 meters wide for 3 kilometers and 16 meters wide for the remaining 7 kilometers for which the financial grant of more than Rs. 8 crore 37 lakh has been received. There are allegations of widespread irregularities in this project work by the District Water and Sewerage Department.
Here are the complaint and official guidelines as well as the alleged irregularities in the work.
1- The silt excavated from the canal through machines should be removed from the canal and transported elsewhere. But for intentional malpractice on the transportation cost, it is being dumped at that place, i.e. on the canal side. As a result, the canal is being further narrowed instead of being widened.
2- The original embankment on the Silt Road side of the Coast Canal, which was previously strong, is being cut during the work. Due to this, there is a risk that the embankment of the canal will soon weaken. This is a draft to grab money in the name of restoration in the future.
3- The road on its side should be widened by digging soil from the canal. The excavated soil should not be dumped inside the canal but on the embankment.
4- Local residents have alleged that since the departmental engineer don’t visit to see the work, the agency has hired some drunkards and goons and the work is not being done properly.
5- This work is being done for more than more than Rs 7 crore. There is a rule to put up an information board with the details of the work at the site. But there is no such board. Hence, it has been alleged that the construction company and departmental officers want to complete the work for the name sake so that they can embezzle crores of govt funds.
In this regard, we took the response of the SDO of the District Water Drainage Department, Nrusingh Charan Patra. The departmental officer said, “There is a problem in working or lifting soil because small machines are installed.”
The question arises here if a project worth crores of rupees is being implemented and a company is carrying out the project work of the Coast Canal, then on what basis the problem has arisen.
It has been alleged that crores of rupees of government money are being repeatedly embezzled in the Coast Canal while no proper work has been witnessed. However, the recent visit of Central Water Commission and MP Pratap Chandra Sarangi to Balasore has created a huge possibility for its restoration. But an investigation into these corruption allegations is required.
