BAD Dept fails to monitor Ranikor tourism project
SHILLONG: The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report year ended 2015 has brought to fore the unfruitful expenditure of over Rs 0.94 crore of the Border Areas Development department meant for development of tourist infrastructure at Ranikor.
The infrastructure was directed towards the potential to harness adventure and river cruise tourism to generate employment and thereby income for the people of the areas, but the CAG observed that the aim of the project was defeated.
Several irregularities with regard to execution of the project surfaced after scrutiny of records of the Director of Border Areas Development (DBAD) in May 2015.
The CAG observed that the DBAD had engaged M/s Brahmaputra Cruise Private Limited (BPCL), Guwahati as a consultant for preparing a detailed project report (DPR) without inviting any tender and despite the conflict of interest gave the firm work order for supplying the river cruising and rafting equipment valuing Rs 0.53 crore. The reasons and competencies for choosing the firm was not found evaluated on record.
It was revealed in the report that the DBAD, on January 2009 issued a work order to BPCL for the supply of river cruising and rafting equipment valuing Rs 0.51 crore. Further, the BPCL completed the work on July 2010 and DBAD paid a total amount of Rs 0.53 crore to it between January 2009 and September 2010.
Since the Border Area Development Programme (BADP) guidelines, permits that work be carried out by the beneficiaries themselves and assets created be handed over to them, the DABD issued two work orders valuing Rs 0.41 crore to the Syiem of Maharam Syiemship for constructing the tourist lodge.
The DBAD had handed over the river cruising and rafting equipment and the tourist lodge to the Myntri Ranikor, Maharam Syiemship, Mawkyrwat, West Khasi Hills District on behalf of the village committee through two handing over agreements dated 15 September 2010 and 19 September 2011 respectively. The assets created at an amount of Rs 0.94 crore were meant to enable the Maharam Syiemship to create employment opportunities and generate income to the people living in those areas. However, the rafting equipment was handed over without any stipulation and the tourist lodge was handed over with the only monitoring condition that the party operating the tourist lodge shall permit the representative of DBAD to inspect the premises from time to time. However, even this clause was not followed leaving the assets in dilapidated condition.
The DBAD instead of handholding the project and providing regular professional guidance to the village committee to ensure that the project fulfills its objectives, simply functioned as grant disbursing agency without having any stake in the success of the project. It left it to the Myntri, Ranikor village to decide how and who would run the tourist lodge and operate the river cruising and rafting equipment. The Myntri Ranikor village in turn entered (January 2011) in a 15 years lease agreement with the Green Hills Mawkyrwat Tourism Society (lessee) for management and maintenance of the asset on payment of negligible annual lease of Rs 5000 in the first year, to be raised by an additional Rs 5000 every year up to the fifth year.
The lessee failed to operate the project and had paid only Rs 0.15 lakh of lease rent till May 2015.
A joint physical verification conducted on May 8, 2015 by a team consisting of an audit party, the BADO, Ranikor and Myntri Ranikor village revealed that the tourist lodge and the chowkidar shed were in dilapidated condition with no beds and other furniture. Most of the doors and windows were broken and bore signs of animal movement. Both the luxury and semi luxury cruise vessels were found damaged/submerged in water and un-operational. The speed boats were damaged while the inflatable rubber boats were found missing.
Moreover, since the assets created more than four to five years ago were non-functional and deteriorating, they were at risk of becoming inoperable over time.
There was nothing on record to show that the premises had been inspected from time to time by the DBAD so that the deterioration of the assets could have been checked in time.
The CAG report observed that failure to monitor the project led to the entire expenditure of Rs 94.03 lakh incurred in procuring the river cruise and rafting equipment and in construction of the tourist lodge remaining unfruitful. The objectives of harnessing the potential of adventure and river cruise tourism to develop new tourist circuits and to enable the village committee to create employment opportunities and generate income to the peole living in those areas also stood defeated.
On being pointed out, the Border Area Development Department in its reply stated (October 2015) that as per the report submitted by the Myntri Ranikor, Maharam Syiemship the assets under river cruising was running smoothly but due to causes of nature (August 2014) both the luxury and semi luxury cruise vessels sank in the river.
The BADD also stated that since the river cruise functioned well from January 2011 to August 2014 the project was not a total loss. The BADD further stated that the DBAD had instructed the lessee in July 2015 to restore the building and other facilities available in the premises to good condition before terminating the contract.
The CAG stated that the reply was untenable as DBAD had failed to monitor the project timely to prevent deterioration of the assets. Resultantly, the lessee failed to operate the project and the Myntri Ranikor Village received a negligible amount of Rs 0.15 lakh only as lease rent up to May 2015. The assets too lay in a deteriorated condition without use from August 2014. No documentary evidence was also furnished to show that the project functioned well from January 2011 to August 2014, the CAG observed.
Fact File
Work allotted to Brahmaputra Cruise Private Limited without inviting tender.
Dilapidated tourist lodge and chowkidar shed.
Luxury and semi luxury cruise vessels submerged.
Speed boats damaged, inflatable rubber boats missing.
No evidence of project functioning from January 2011 to August 2014.