Republica: BIRGUNJ: Sunday, June 25, 2017.
Drinking
Water and Sanitation Division in Parsa district has found misuse of budget
allocated for a drinking water project.
When locals
here at Gamhariya village, using the Right to Information (RTI) Act, asked for
the project details, the employees misbehaved with the locals. Then, they
reached to the District Administration Office (DAO) to register their
complaint.
Drinking
Water and Sanitation Division, Parsa, has got a total of Rs 89 million for
shallow tube well and over head water tank project in the current fiscal year.
According to the office engineer Dinesh Prasad Shah, 60 percent of budget has
been used till last month. “We cannot give you the exact details of the budget.
It takes time to prepare,” he added. “This year’s target is to dig 1,046
shallow tube wells in the district.”
Locals
started investigation into the matter as they smelt a rat finding the
employees’ activities doubtful. They found that the office employees had
provided a document of 78 pages with fake details. The detail of tube well’s
depth is shorter in comparison to what is mentioned in the estimation.
According to
the locals, the depth of tube well is supposed to be 250 feet but the depth is
shorter. Engineer Shah claimed that the tube well’s depth is 240 to 250 feet.
However, the reality is different. Investigation found that the depth of tube
well is only 110 feet to 140 feet. Even the depth of tube well a mosque yard is
185 feet. Locals are furious, saying that the office has committed
irregularities even in the work done at a place of religious significance.
Among 34 tube wells dug in this year, not a single tube well has 250-ft depth.
When
villagers found the employees wrongdoings, the employees are now trying to
conceal the mistake. “It is normal to find differences between the estimation
and the field work. Sometimes mistakes happen in such works,” said Engineer
Yadav.
Tube wells
aren’t installed yet in most of the places, mentioned in the office notice, and
the details are only in papers. The office has even listed names of some
households who have not installed tube well yet. On the other hand, it is also
found that the office has included names of some households who have installed
tube wells on their own. According to the locals, the office has even installed
the tube well to the residence of other villages that used to live in Gamhariya
in the past. “Some of our villagers are in Birgunj and Kathmandu. Will the
office install tube well at their houses too?” Saroj, a local, wondered.
Division
office selects one person as a protector in needy places but in Sirsiya four
members of same family has been selected for different places and installed
tube well. One of the villagers, Rajesh Chauhan, claimed that officials have
even included names of some individuals who have already passed away.
Engineer Shah
said the depth of tube well ranges from 210 feet to 220 feet, while Chauhan
claimed that the depth ranges between only 100 to 150 feet.
In their
complaints to DAO Parsa, locals have demanded the local administration to take
action against those involved in misusing money allocated from the state
coffers.