Hyderabad: The Telangana government’s Mission Kakatiya project to restore 9,573 tanks and lakes in the state before the onset of monsoon in June has been hit by corruption. The government could accord administrative approval for only 6,268 tanks so far.
Of them, tenders were finalised for only 3,235 tanks and works were launched in just 1,425 tanks. Largescale complaints of officials demanding commission to finalise tenders have been made.
In the CM”s home district Medak alone, contractors are forced to pay 1 per cent commission to secure works.
Officials awarded contracts worth Rs 45 crore in the district so far and the government received complaints that contractors paid one per cent commission amounting to Rs 45 lakh to officials to secure works. Restoration works are moving at snail’s pace with contractors shying away from works. Even if they take up, they are compromising on the quality of works, to minimise expenditure and to earn reasonable profits. These complaints were brought to the notice of Mr Harish Rao, who also represents Siddipet constituency in Medak district. The minister viewed this seriously and instructed the Medak collector to probe this issue and initiate stringent action against officials demanding commissions and also contractors, who are compromising on the quality of works.
“Everyone should whole heartedly and voluntarily support the noble intention of the Telangana government to restore tanks and lakes, that used to be the major sources of irrigation and drinking water in the region right from the Kakatiyas to the Nizams. They were neglected by Seemandhra governments due to which they faded away over the years. Now we have decided to restore 9,000 tanks starting this year and to cover a total of 45,000 tanks in Telangana. No corruption will be tolerated in this noble initiative. A thorough probe is being taken up to bring out the facts on corruption and no person will be spared if found to be guilty," Mr Rao said.
If this was the situation in Medak, represented by the CM and the irrigation minister, it can’t be better in other districts. Largescale complaints of officials escalating work estimates are coming from Nizamabad, Karimnagar and Warangal. In some places, the programme was made a “TRS event” and officials in nexus with local party leaders were awarding contracts to persons of their choice.
