Early Times Report
SRINAGAR, Feb 8: Government has failed to take the R&B and Mechanical Engineering departments to task for their callous approaches, as the department concerned gives contracts of snow clearance before couple of months of snowfall in Kashmir.
According to reliable sources, normally Kashmir and other parts of state receive snowfall in the months of Dec to Feb or March too, but one fails to understand why contracts worth Lakhs and crores are given in advance to the contractors for snow clearance by the concerned departments.
Contracts are given for snow clearance, in which the contractors are required to use men and machinery, and in the age of advanced technologies, these contracts either private or government whatsoever does their job half heartedly, sources on wishing anonymity told ET.
Sources said that, first the contracts are given after the tenders are invited and the approval for the same is given to the blue eyed contractors on mutual understanding who run the JCB machines at their will on macadamized roads, and then another contract is given to those who macadamize the same roads on another tenders.
"There is a lobby of people ranging from Work Supervisor, Draftsman, JEs, to AEEs, and sometimes the treasuries are also involved who gets their shares from contractors", sources alleged.
Sources said that the financial year begins in March, and the contractors gets their bills passed from the concerned departments, among which some percent is being distributed or rather given to the officials who had helped him in giving the contracts for the same job.
Unfortunate part of the story is that, the city centers, town gets snow cleared once it falls, but the upper reaches, far flung areas of Kashmir valley witnesses' huge mounds of snow flocks throughout the year, but despite that, fake bills are drawn, sources lamented.
Sources said that, these contracts and department concerns leaves no stone unturned in keeping their higher official happy, be it an electrician, or plumber they remains on toes, but they hardly bothers about the poor man's ordeal, perhaps God has also forgotten them in this tough times.
Sources observed that, present scenario of Kashmir with respect to fresh snowfall speaks something like that, there are dozens of villages, be it the upper reaches of South Kashmir, Central Kashmir or some parts of north Kashmir, like Limber, Banali, Boniyar in Uri, or Hajibal, Kandi of Baramulla, or Galibal of Rafiabad where families hardly gets help from these contractors or the concerned departments whatsoever, while as Police made attempts to reach there, but the roads were not cleared by these selfish contractors.
The governor administration is appealed to take note of it, otherwise the day is not far when nobody will take care of these poor families who had held high hopes on government after God, sources added. |
