SHILLONG, Nov 8: A beautification and improvement project in Tura town has raised many an eyebrow with a former MLA petitioning Prime Minister Narendra Modi demanding a probe.
The Meghalaya government is spending nearly Rs 7,500 on each flowerpot and Rs 1 lakh for each electric post being installed in Tura as part of the project.
Suspecting misuse of public money, diversion of funds, duplication of projects, wasting of state’s funds on frivolities and taking note of obstruction of public utility space, former South Tura MLA John Leslee K Sangma has written to Modi urging him to institute an inquiry into the matter by the Enforcement Directorate.
Sangma said Rs 12.45 crore has been given as administrative approval for the project and as per information received under RTI Act, the project was prepared by a firm from outside the state which has no knowledge of the topography of Tura town.
“The government without studying the feasibility of the project approved the parameters of the proposed construction prepared by the outside agency and the officers also acted irresponsibly and simply gave their seal and signatures and allotted the project to the contractor to start the work,” the letter said.
The complainant said the work is going on in full swing in a negative direction from the point of view of public convenience and benefit as flowerpots costing Rs 7,474 each and electric posts costing Rs 99,332 each are being installed on the footpath obstructing the right of way of pedestrians.
Stating that Tura has footpath only on one side of the road which is hardly three feet wide and the state government has taken away the rights of the citizens to use the only footpath, he said the government installed huge flowerpots and electric posts in the public utility space.
“As per the information furnished by the PIO, 164 numbers of electric posts and 465 numbers of flowerpots are going to be erected. One stretch of the newly-constructed footpath is hardly one and half feet wide, rendering it unfit to be of any use to the pedestrians but it is also adorned with structures with a sole purpose of siphoning public money,” the letter reads.
It added that the most bizarre design and the proposed plan of the entire project is to beautify the Ringrey Junction by providing it with a double-row auto-rickshaw parking space, an office building, a plaza (normally used for public gathering) and an amphitheatre all in a space measuring 40×8 square feet.
Sangma said the project is also in violation of the PM’s vision to reduce pollution under AMRUT mission.
He drew Modi’s attention to alleged irregularities taking place in the name of Meghalaya Ecotourism Infrastructure Development project for which a loan of $98 million (Rs 753 crore) was taken by the Government of India from the New Development Bank (NDB).
The project, which is supposed to cover urban, semi-urban and rural areas of Meghalaya, envisages developing key tourist attraction points (ecotourism hubs), ensure their connectivity by constructing/upgrading roads, bridges, ropeways, etc and creating basic tourist accommodation.
Sangma said he had received information in September this year that a contractor was laying a paver block in Nikwatere locality of Tura on a newly-constructed road. As laying paver block on a cemented road sounds irregular, he applied for information under the RTI Act.
“I submitted my application on September 8, 2022 and the work surprisingly stopped the next day,” he said.
He also said that when he finally got the reply, it was clear the money meant for the ecotourism project was being used for construction, including improvement of Tura town internal road as Local MLA fund by the Chief Minister. He viewed it as fraud committed on the people of Meghalaya.
The complainant alleged as per the information provided, there are 246 numbers of works under construction including improvement of Tura town internal road. He said of all works, not even one is connected to tourism.
“The estimate for the connectivity roads is also exorbitant and unrealistic and cases of duplication of projects have been reported,” the letter said.
