SRINAGAR: Days after R&B was accused by valley based contractors of withholding pending bills worth crores of rupees deliberately on the closing of just concluded financial year, Contractors on Tuesday threatened to stop water flow from irrigation canals, accusing the department of making them work on unapproved projects.
Sources in the Irrigation and Flood Control Department said that the department had floated tenders in 2009-10 for expansion and other works in three major canals of valley including Zanageer Canal Sopore, Gramuntoo Canal Kulgam and Lar Canal Budgam for an estimated cost of 155 crore rupees. However sources claimed that as per the project, 90 percent of the expenditure had be incurred by the Union Govt .
As per the agreement, 73 crore rupees had to be spent on Zanageer , 50 crore on Gramuntoo and 32 crore on Lar Canal. However, ironically the tenders were floated without projects being actually approved by the Union Govt, sources said.
They added that the then engineers and authorities of I&FC department had prepared the projects with so many technical loopholes which were even flagged by the union govt. But according to sources, despite objections and queries by Union Govt. I&FC department floated the tenders and allotted works to contractors. We had been working on the project and nobody told us that these projects were unapproved. At least 50 crore rupees have piled up as liability and they (I&FC) authorities are unmoved. Contractors said that non release of crores of liabilities has brought them on roads and they are close to bankruptcy.
We are finished. 50 crores is not a meagre amount. They have duped us, Claimed the contractors, adding that almost 40 percent of the work has already been completed.
Sources in the department have also said that the concerned engineers had been tricky over the years. They said authorities had been releasing the instalments to contractors out of the 10 percent state share without letting anybody know that nothing was coming from 90 percent of the central Govt. share.
Union Govt. raised so many objections and queries, despite that, they continued with the work and finally the axe has fallen on poor contractors, said the sources, demanding an enquiry against the concerned engineers.
Meanwhile Minster for Irrigation and Flood control Sham Lal Sharma while indirectly denying any action against the concerned authorities said that his ministry would seek PCC chief Prof. Saifudin Sozs help to get the withheld funds from the union Govt released.
We will get nothing by digging the graves. Let we move forward and strive for the release of funds from union Govt. Sham Lal said on Tuesday evening. He added that his ministry had already taken up the matter with the union Govt. (KNS)
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