The Minister in-charge of Public Health Engineering (PHE) Department of Meghalaya – Renikton Lyngdoh Tongkhar has decided to seek a report on the excessive expenditure incurred by the department, while carrying-out projects under the Greater Shillong Water Supply Scheme (GSWSS).
The decision was undertaken in response to the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG)’s recent disclosure that the excess expenditure was to the tune of Rs 1.71 crore.
“I have not gone through (the report) yet, but will soon go through it and seek a report on the matter. If required, I will also convene a review meeting to determine the cause of this unnecessary expense,” Tongkhar said.
“In implementing the projects under the GSWSS, PHE department prepared Detailed Project Reports (DPRs) without determining the actual distance of stone and sand quarries, resulting in excess payment of Rs 1.71 crore on account of lump sum price being paid for transporting stone chips and sand, rather than actual distance-based carriage,” – the CAG noted in its report.
According to reports, the final work orders for construction of all the six reservoirs were granted in July 2015 to six contractors on lump sum contract basis with directions to complete the work within 12 months from the date of issue of the work orders i.e all the six reservoirs were due for completion in July 2016.
It’s important to note that the NEC released its entire 13.50 crore share over three instalments, whereas the state government only provided 1.20 crore of its equal 1.50 crore part.
