Amritsar Improvement Trust officials under scanner over missing interlocking tiles
The disappearance of thousands of interlocking tiles from the premises of the Amritsar Improvement Trust (AIT) has raised serious questions over the manner in which public property is recorded, stored and monitored. More troubling is the apparent absence of a proper stock entry for the material, leaving the basic questions unanswered: Where are the tiles and where is the official record of them?
A 2.52-km cycle track was constructed in the Ranjit Avenue area under the Smart City project in 2019-20 at a cost of around Rs 1.93 crore. During the construction, the interlocking tiles that were already installed at the site were removed and reportedly brought to the AIT office parking area.
As per procedure, such old material is required to be recorded in the stock register and kept safely. However, according to the complaint, no clear entry regarding the deposit of these tiles was found in the AIT’s store records.
The complaint regarding the disappearance of the tiles was received in March, though no action was taken for three months. Subsequently, Superintending Engineer (SE) Buta Ram constituted a three-member inquiry committee on June 2. The committee comprised Executive Engineer Kirandeep Heer, SDO Parminder Singh and JE Varun Gupta.
The committee was asked to investigate the complaint and submit its report. However, around two months after its formation, the final inquiry report is still awaited.
Sources said the number of missing tiles could be between 30,000 and 40,000. With the current market price of an interlocking tile estimated at around Rs 11, the value of the material could run into several lakhs.
The key questions before the inquiry committee are: How many tiles were removed from the project site? How many were deposited with the AIT? How many were entered in the stock register? And whether anyone sold or stole them?
Superintending Engineer Buta Ram said a three-member committee comprising senior officials was investigating the matter. “The statement of the complainant has been recorded in which he stated that tiles were stolen. The inquiry was delayed due to SIR and Census-related duties,” he said.
