Biswabrata Goswami
KRISHNAGAR, 29 DEC: At a time when the government is spending crores of rupees for development of infrastructure and construction of roads to connect far-flung areas with the main connectivity in the state under Prime Minister Gramin Sadak Yojana (PMGSY), the people are still facing numerous difficulties in surface communication due to illegal nexus between some concerned officials and contractors, who are resorting to unfair means while executing various projects.
One such glaring example of corruption is the construction of the road from NH-34 (Bhaga) to Rajarampur – Ghoraikhetra under Kaliganj block in Nadia. Around 15 kilometre road which was to be completed three years ago has not been completed yet due to alleged corruption. If the road is completed, there would be a positive impact on agriculture, health, education, urbanisation and employment generation in the locality.
According to the reports, West Bengal State Rural Development Agency, Nadia division had given work order to one M/S R K Sarkar agency to construct the road in 2016 at the cost of around Rs 7 crore but the agency did not complete the work even after repeated warnings from the state agency. Sarkar agency had reportedly built around 7 kilometre road and he was paid around Rs 3 crore for his work. As the contractor of the Sarkar agency did not respond to the warnings, the chief minister Mamata Banerjee intervened in the matter and she terminated the contractor. He was also terminated from 20 ongoing projects in Nadia and North 24 Paragans districts.
The executive engineer of WBSRDA, Nadia division, Biswajit Dutta had filed an FIR against the contractor of the Sarkar agency as he is still absconding.
Later, the state agency had given a work order to M/S Dream Construction agency to complete the work on 16 October, 2020. After a few months, problems erupted when the contractor noticed that he will have to work around 2720 metres of road (missing chainage), whose payment (around Rs 80 lakhs to Rs 1 crore) had already been disbursed to the previous Sarkar agency.
Mr Rana Biswas, contractor of the Dream agency alleged, “I repeatedly informed about the matter to the Executive Engineer, Nadia division, but he assured me that the problem would be solved. Accordingly, I have completed above noted work more than 60% in four months, but the officer expressed reluctance to make payment to me. Even, he tried to harass me in various ways. I have then kept my work stop because I have not received a huge amount of money for my work.”
As a result, the construction of the road which was incomplete for years has once again been stopped. The local residents who are very much disappointed alleged that if the road is not completed soon, they will launch agitation against the state agency.
Mr Biswas also said, “The EE office has started working on its own money with another person on the site for the last one week chainage from 7500 metre to 8300 metre which was paid to the previous agency (Sarkar agency). About 2700 metre extra payment was made to the Sarkar agency amounting to around 80 lakhs to Rs 1 crore.”
When asked, Mr Biswajit Dutta, executive engineer declined to comment.
Mr Krishnava Ghosh, additional district magistrate (zilla-parishad) said, “If I receive any complaint with regards to this matter, I will conduct a probe.”
Ms Rikta Kundu, Sabhadhipati of Nadia zilla-parishad said, “I don’t believe that there was any extra payment to any agency. However, I have asked Mr Dutta to furnish papers over this matter to me.”
Tags: #PMGSY #ExecutiveEngineer #NadiaDivision #Corruption
