Tehri residents demand judicial inquiry

Tribune News Service

Mussoorie, April 112

Residents of Tehri are not satisfied with the inquiry being conducted the three-member team to determine the lapses and delay in the construction of the Dobra-Chanti bridge in Tehri district on which over Rs 130 crore has been spent so far.

The members of the Dobra-Chanti Pul Banao Sangharsh Samiti are demanding a judicial inquiry headed by a former judge instead of the one being conducted by the team headed by Commissioner of Garhwal NS Napalchyal.

President of the Dobra-Chanti Pul Banao Sangharsh Samiti Rajeshwar Panyuli said he was not too hopeful of the three-member team. He said he had doubts about the intention of the state government in unearthing the scam of more than Rs 100 crore as it had not yet fixed any civil or criminal accountability against those who had benefited from the scam.

He alleged the contractor assigned the task of the project that is funded equally by the state and the central governments did not have the expertise in building such spawn bridges. He was giving the job without technical assessment, thus raising the question that the departments involved in the project were siding with the contractor.

The Chief Secretary had announced the investigation team several months ago. But the team found time to look into matter only a few days back after his organisation threatened to file a PIL in the case. Further, the statements of Napalchyal are also not reassuring, said Panyuli.

The members of the Sangharsh Samiti also said that that the PWD had failed to give a satisfactory reply under the RTI. It was indicative of the fact that efforts were being made to brush the matter under the carpet without fixing the accountability of the officials involved in the delay in the construction of the bridge, they alleged.

Tehri District Magistrate Yugal Kishore Pant, refuted the claims that the payment to the contractors had been made in advance. He said all payments had been made according to the prescribed norms.

He said that a Korean consultant firm, Yosin Engineering Corporation, had been assigned the task to design and supervise the construction of the bridge and it had submitted its first report recommending some changes. The work on the bridge would start following the second report by the firm Korean firm to be submitted by June-end, said Pant.

Pant said no criminal or civil accountability had been set yet as the investigation in the matter was still on. Once the report is submitted, action would be initiated accordingly. The scheduled period for the completion of the bridge is 2017, he said.

Meanwhile, the members of the Sangharsh Samiti have said that they would not settle for less than a judicial inquiry as the residents of Pratapnagar in Tehri are finding it difficult to remain connected with the outside world and are awaiting the construction of the bridge.