Principal Secretary summoned over road construction

The Himachal High Court has expressed serious concern over the issue of utilisation of Rs 80 lakh for the construction of an ambulance road in Kullu town and directed the Principal Secretary, Public Works Department (PWD), along with the Chief Engineer concerned to appear before it on March 22 along with relevant record(s) and justify their respective actions.

While passing the order, Justice Tarlok Singh Chauhan and Justice Sushil Kukreja observed that “it is astonishing to note that a whopping amount of Rs 80 lakh is alleged to have been sanctioned and thereafter utilised for the construction of an ambulance road, that, too, of less than 200 metre length. At the first instance, how this amount has been sanctioned for such a small work and thereafter misutilised is a matter of great concern, given the fact that this probably may not even be the cost of an expressway”.

The court passed the order on a petition that alleged that despite the court order the authorities concerned had not widened the ambulance road. If the road would not reach till the last point, it would serve no purpose despite the investment of such a huge amount.