Different Answers for Single RTI Query

The New Indian Express: Kerala: Saturday, April 26, 2014.

Exposing the irregularities and planning disaster in the ongoing barrage construction across Chandragiri River, the RTIs filed by two different people before the Minor Irrigation Department (MID) have received contradictory answers on a single query over the progress of the work. Express is in possession of both the RTI responses.

Experts say that barrage construction across Chandragiri River would prevent saline water intrusion and thus water from the river could be used for drinking purposes.

The barrage construction was started years ago but it reached nowhere owing to the apathy of the officials concerned.

It was at this juncture two people living in Kasargod filed RTI applications seeking to know the status of the ongoing barrage construction. In response to the RTI query filed by M K Radhakrishnan on May 31, 2013, it was revealed that 42 percent of the work of the barrage construction was complete and that hopefully, the rest of the work would be completed in a couple of months.

Ironically, in response to an RTI query filed eight months after this on January 28, 2014, revealed that only 19.38 percent of the work was complete. In the second case, the RTI was filed V Gopinathan and accidentally both of them got a chance to compare both the replies and thus the irony came to light.

In the second RTI, it was also revealed that a sum of `2,77,42,535 has been spent for the construction so far.

However, even after spending crores of rupees, the work has reached nowhere and the Minor Irrigation Department is planning to get a new proposal for the same work approved by the state government.

“What a contradiction? The Minor Irrigation Department officials, in the first response, said that 42 percent work was complete; then how will it be 19.38 percent after eight months? This exposes the mentality of officials and the corruption in barrage construction,” said V Gopinathan, a retired professor and secretary of the Kasargod People’s Forum, a social organisation.

He expressed hope in the ongoing Vigilance enquiry over the barrage construction and said that that it would help to dig out the frauds behind the work. When contacted, Executive Engineer of MID K R Venugopala Pai, said, “This shouldn’t have happened.”

However, he claimed ignorance over the issue and said that someone else in the office might have done it. “Let me look into it to take necessary action,” he added.