The Daily Pioneer: Dehradun: Thursday, May 17, 2018.
While the State Government is touting the cabinet meeting on Tehri dam reservoir as a proactive initiative, information revealed under the Right To Information Act shows that the state government’s action was actually in violation of the Inland Vessels Act and the 2017 office order of the Director General of Shipping, Government of India. According to the law, the floating marina on which the meeting was held cannot be operated until it is registered with an authority. However, the floating marina, barge and ferry boat on the lake are neither registered nor insured. During 2017 the State Information Commissioner had also directed the chief secretary to order a vigilance inquiry and get a special audit conducted by the accountant general of Uttarakhand of these purchases.
Former marine surveyor and the current authorised boat surveyor of the Tehri district Panchayat, Vipul Dhasmana had filed an application under the RTI Act seeking details about the the floating marina, barge, ferry boat and other boats and equipment purchased by the Uttarakhand Tourism Development Board (UTDB) for the Tehri lake. It was revealed that the UTDB had directed the Uttar Pradesh Rajkeeya Nirman Nigam (UPRNN) to purchase these boats and equipment even though the corporation has no expertise in this field. According to Dhasmana, it was further revealed that the seaworthiness certificates had not been granted to the floating marina, barge and ferry boat with these consequently not being registered and insured as required. Various aspects need to be checked from the viewpoint of safety while purchasing such boats and equipment but this was not done as the executing agency was not capable of doing so. The State information commissioner Surendra Singh Rawat stated in his order that it appears as if there are major irregularities in the purchase of these boats and equipment costing crores of rupees. Last year, he had directed the chief secretary to get a vigilance inquiry and special audit done by the accountant general into these purchases.
However on Wednesday, the state cabinet held its meeting on one such vessel- the floating marina, which could be considered to be one of the purchases found dubious. Dhasmana told The Pioneer, “As per the Inland Vessels Act 1917 and the 2017 office order of the Director General of Shipping, Government of India, both the floating marina and barge cannot be operated till the time they are registered with an authority, be it the Union or State Government.
The floating marina and barge are both unregistered so by holding a cabinet meeting on the floating marina, the Uttarakhand Government actually violated the Union Government’s Act.
Such negligence on part of the authorities goes against the officially stated intentions of attracting even international tourists to the Tehri lake. Tourists would put their faith in facility providers while boarding the floating marina and boats on the Tehri lake but the safety and legitimacy aspects were ignored even for the cabinet Ministers who held a meeting on the floating marina which does not send out a good message.”
.JPG)
.JPG)
