Kochi Municipal Corporation has incurred an expenditure of Rs 69.92 crore for flushing out salt water to curb mosquito menace during the post-monsoon months (October-May) for a period starting from 2005-06 to 2011-12.
According to CAG report for the year 2013 on Local Self-Government released on Thursday, the authenticity of the payments could not be ensured as it was made without proper documentation.
The report says the programme was not conducted in 2010-11 due to delay in finalising the tenders to grant contract to the tanker lorries fitted with pumpsets.
The CAG observed that Kochi Municipal Corporation (KMC) did not receive any complaint regarding increase in mosquito menace /vector-borne diseases on account of not conducting the salt water flushing during 2010-11. Nor was any assessment made on the efficacy of the programme to flush saltwater into the drains, the audit report said.
It has also been noticed that KMC did not make any preparation of list or maps of the drains specifying the points of intake of salt water and estimation of quantity of salt water to be flushed into drains, give transparency to the execution of the programme and evaluate the reasonableness of the payment to be made to the contractor.
The Corporation statement that the Health Inspector was giving oral instructions to the contractor each time in this regard. The audit noted that the trip sheets of contractors did not contain the vehicle number, date, meter reading, time and place of flushing of salt water and number of trips.
It has also pointed out the the necessity of conducting a scientific study on the efficacy of the process.