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| CAG talks tough, says PHE head failed to ensure accountability | | | Early Times Report
JAMMU, Apr 8: State government may have passed Public service guarantee act to discipline its official machinery and fix accountability of non-performing officers but PHE department seems to be unaware of this landmark litigation.
Head of the PHE department B.D.Sharma has failed to force the machinery below him to take up and complete works on war-footing basis. CAG has CAG further stated that due to improper planning by the departmental heads by way of inadequate funding, non-availability of key construction material and not designing OHTs as per Indian Standard Code, the construction of over-head tanks (OHTs) could not be completed despite delay of more than six years which rendered the investment of Rs 68.92 lakh wasteful, besides depriving the intended consumers of the benefits of the water supply schemes.
It has added that weak monitoring by the head of the department resulted in wasteful expenditure. As per the CAG report, for improvement and augmentation of the existing water supply to different part of the Jammu city, Public Health Engineer (PHE) department proposed three different schemes at an estimated cost of Rs 3.80 crore.
Work had been assigned to the Executive Engineer PHE, City Division-II. He had to cover areas of Channi Himmat, Trikuta Nagar and Greater Kailash has to cover under this project. The works included construction of Tube-well, water sumps, laying of allied distribution network besides construction of four Over-Head Tanks (OHTs).
Audit revealed that work of construction of three over-head tanks out of four was allotted in 2004 by the Chief Engineer PHE department to two contractors at an estimated cost of Rs 68.92 lakh for completion within one year. However, after taking up the work and completing the OHTs upto shaft at Channi Himmat and Trikuta Nagar and dome levels at Greater Kailash, contractors abandoned the work alleging non-supply of key construction material by the department and non-availability of funds for these schemes.
The report says that an expenditure of Rs 68.93 lakh was booked which included payment of Rs 48.43 lakh to the contractors against these works completed by them as of March 2011. Department made unsuccessful attempts from 2007-11 to get funds sanctioned for completion of the pending works but to no avail.
Further, efforts to persuade the contractors to re-start the work failed as the contractors sought compensation for escalation in cost and other losses suffered by them due to delay in supply material. No further action was taken till a high level committee was constituted by the department in January 2010 to address the issue of incomplete OHTs.
The committee illogically suggested revision of design of all the structures in accordance win Indian Standard Code. The committee further recommended that the structures be got inspected through some expert committee so as to strengthen the existing half constructed OHTs. Department thereafter sought the help of Economic Reconstruction Agency for suggesting remedial measures and further progress in the matter was awaited.
In another instant case, Commissioner/Secretary PHE B.D.Sharma has failed to get a water connection installed at Govt Primary school, Gumat. A formal request letter was written by the school headmaster dated December 19, 2011 to the executive engineer PHE Division, Jammu urging him to install water connection inside the school premises.
The headmaster had also brought intimated the commissioner/secretary's office that the field staff of the department had conducted on the spot survey in the month of January 2012 and had concluded that at least17 water pipes were required to install the water connection. After waiting for some more time, headmaster wrote another letter to the Executive engineer PHE division Jammu city on February 23, 2012. Ironically, despite remaining in constant touch with PHE department for more than one month, PHE team responsible for installing the water connection is yet to arrive.
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