BHUBANESWAR: The state government on Tuesday placed three senior engineers under suspension for alleged irregularities in the box conduit construction work of the Bargarh main canal, the first phase of which is being executed at a cost of `42 crore.
The Water Resources department took the action against superintending engineer, Bargarh irrigation division Madan Mohan Sethy, assistant executive engineer of Bheden irrigation sub-division Raj Kumar Mishra and assistant engineer, Bargarh canal section, Ranjan Patel for alleged gross misconduct and dereliction of duty in execution of the project.
As per the suspension order, the headquarters of Sethy has been fixed at the office of engineer-in-chief of Water Resources department in Bhubaneswar while those of Mishra and Patel have been fixed at office of chief engineer and basin manager, Mahanadi Basin, Burla.
Sources said further investigation has been ordered by the department against huge kickbacks in finalisation of the work tender. They alleged that though the first phase cost estimate of the project was `42 crore, the bid had been finalised at `39 crore.
Allegations of tender fixing during finalisation of bid for the project has also surfaced as only three contractors had participated in the bidding process. The contractor who had emerged as the lowest bidder had allegedly started preliminary work without even formal finalisation of tender.
Bargarh MP Pradeep Purohit welcomed the action, stating that the BJP government has zero tolerance towards corruption. “The suspension is a warning to corrupt officers in the entire state,” he said and demanded a probe to ascertain how work had started without the formal finalisation of bid. Former BJD MLA from Bargarh Debesh Acharya alleged the bid was finalised at five to seven pc lower rate than the estimated cost. He also demanded a high-level probe into the matter.