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Himachal Pradesh: Anti-graft forum seeks SIT probe into corruption in SJPNL
The former deputy mayor said that the bulk water supply from the Sutlej River should have been completed by now but in order to favour the contractor, who is a close associate of the previous BJP government, the conditions of the tender/contract agreement were overlooked
: Forum Against Corruption (FAC), a Shimla-based group, has demanded the state government to scrap the Shimla Jal Prabandhan Nigam Limited (SJPNL) and form a special investigation team to probe “corruption” by politicians and bureaucrats managing the firm.
Addressing a press conference here, FAC convener and former Shimla Deputy Mayor Tikender Singh Panwar also demanded to rename the utility Greater Shimla Water Supply & Sewage Circle (GSWSSC) and transfer it to the Shimla Municipal Corporation, which, he said, should have been the sole agency to run water and sewage utility in Shimla town, as mandated under the 74th Constitutional Amendment.
Panwar alleged that what was being witnessed was sheer cronyism on the part of the execution of the projects, massive corruption at the behest of previous government and officers, falling standards of work, and completely inefficient management.
The former deputy mayor said that the bulk water supply from the Sutlej River should have been completed by now but in order to favour the contractor, who is a close associate of the previous BJP government, the conditions of the tender/contract agreement were overlooked.
The company called Laxmi Construction Company in a joint venture with another company based in Gujarat was awarded the tender to lift water from Sutlej to Shimla.
Pointing out a basic problem with the design of lifting water which renders it prone to heavy damages if an earthquake occurs, Panwar alleged that in order to benefit the executing company, the project cost was revised.
“It jumped from ₹250 crore to ₹500 crore. This is a huge benefit made to the executing company and a straight loss to the exchequer,” he alleged.
“We have been informed that the executing company is still not satisfied and more than 2,000 letters have been written to SJNPL to make a fit case for arbitration. None of the letters have been replied to by the SJNPL, as whenever an executive engineer has written for the delay in the project, the person was transferred immediately,” he said.
