SHILLONG: The Comptroller and Auditor General of India has rapped the Urban Affairs Department for failing to provide shelter to 240 urban slum dwellers of Nongpoh even after the lapse of more than five-and-a-half years of the targeted date of completion.
Due to this, the expenditure of Rs 3.73 crore was rendered unfruitful.
Moreover, with the project being executed on a land belonging to the contractor, the expenditure is with the risk of becoming wasteful if the department fails to acquire the land from the contractor.
According to the CAG report of 2016, MUDA, the nodal agency under the Urban Affairs Department entered into an agreement in March 2007 with Hindustan Prefab Limited (HPL), a Government of India enterprise, for formulating and executing projects under the sub-missions of JNNURM programme.
In February 2009, HPL prepared a detailed project report to relocate 240 poor households from slums at Nongpoh under the Integrated Housing and Slum Development Programme, a sub-mission under JNNURM.
The estimated cost of the project, which was approved by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation in February 2009, was Rs 9.18 crore that also included Rs19.30 lakh for acquiring 40,173.14 sqm of private land at Pahamsyiem in Nongpoh.
The Central share in the cost was Rs 7.10 crore and that of the State was Rs 2.08 crore. The project was approved with a condition that the State must furnish confirmation regarding possession of land.
In July 2009, the Centre released Rs 3.55 crore and the State Government provided Rs 1.04 crore in February 2011.
CAG said scrutiny of MUDA records in April 2016 revealed that prior to the preparation of the DPR, the Urban Affairs Department received an offer in July 2008 from Nongpoh-Pahamsyiem IHSDP Project Committee for sale of 10 acres of community land, free from all encumbrances, at Pahamsyiem including giving advance possession of the land even before payment of the land compensation.
The department, however, took months to ascertain the suitability and ownership of the land and only in June 2009, the Director, Urban Affairs department requested the Ri Bhoi Deputy Commissioner to initiate land acquisition.
HPL, without even ascertaining whether Ri Bhoi DC had initiated land acquisition, tendered the work in May 2010 and awarded it in July 2010 to Leborlang Lyngdoh, a local contractor, at a tendered value of Rs 7.79 crore with a stipulation to complete the work within 15 months (October 2011).
During December 2010, when the contractor went to commence the work, some locals stopped the construction saying the site was a cultivable land.
In June 2011, the Nongpoh Town Committee (NTC) submitted an unregistered gift deed to the Urban Affairs Department showing that the Dorbar Shnong of Umbada, Mylliem Syiemship, had donated 3,54,300 sqft of land at Umbada, Nongpoh (site-II) for the project on the condition that the Government compensate for the loss of cultivated crops.
In July 2015, the NTC chairman wrote to the Urban Affairs Director that based on the verbal request of the department, the contractor with the help of NTC had identified the land at site II and purchased it at a cost of Rs 0.36 crore.
The chairman also stated that the purchase was duly registered with the Sub-Registrar Office at Nongpoh and the project stands on the land belonging to the contractor.
The chairman then requested the Urban Affairs Director to pay the cost of land to the contractor with little amount of interest so that the contractor transfers the land to the department.
Despite the Urban Affairs Department receiving different claims to ownership of the land, it failed to take steps to ensure that it had a clear title to the ownership of the land at Umbada.
Consequently the project being undertaken is fraught with risk of turning wasteful in case the contractor fails to hand over the land to the department at a later date.
The work at site-II commenced in August 2011 and of a total 240 dwelling units sanctioned, construction of only 128 dwelling units were taken up due to lesser area and topography of the plot at site-II.
Subsequently after incurring an expenditure of Rs 3.73 crore on completion of only 90 percent of 112 dwelling units and 40 percent of 16 dwelling units, HPL expressed (October 2013) its inability to complete the project at the old rates and requested either for a cost escalation or takeover of the project by the State Government.
The incomplete project was taken over from HPL in May 2015 by MUDA without acquiring the land at site-II.
The documents of handing over of the project also recorded the fact that the land was in the name of the contractor and Rs 0.36 crore was to be paid to the contractor for the land.
Till the time of taking over the incomplete project, MUDA had released Rs 3.55 crore to HPL and had an outstanding liability of Rs 0.18 crore to be paid to HPL and Rs 0.36 crore to the contractor for the land at Umbada.
“Thus, failure of the Department to provide shelter to 240 urban slum dwellers even after a lapse of more than five-and-a-half years of the stipulated date of completion had not only rendered the expenditure of Rs 3.73 crore unfruitful, but because of the project being executed on the land purchased by the contractor (site-II), the expenditure is fraught with risk of turning wasteful in case the contractor failed to hand over the land to the department at a later date. The matter was reported to the Government in August 2016 and the reply had not been received till January 2017,” the CAG report said.
