CUTTACK: In a scathing order, the Orissa High Court has pulled up the Housing and Urban Development (H&UD) department over serious lapses in the preparation and handling of detailed project reports (DPRs) for construction of five major storm water drains in Cuttack under the branch surface water channel (BSWC) project, worth over `335 crore.
The division bench of Justices SK Sahoo and V Narasingh expressed concern over “startling” discrepancies in the DPRs submitted by the Cuttack Municipal Corporation (CMC). The court observed that the DPRs lacked official authentication and no names of the officials involved in their preparation were mentioned, which is a significant deviation from standard procedure.
The court said more disturbingly, during a review meeting on April 30, 2025, the city engineer of CMC was represented by a private consultancy firm based in Bhubaneswar, raising questions over its authority and role. “There is nothing on record to indicate how the private company could represent a government official,” the bench remarked.
Despite a prior government decision to seek expert review from IIT-Bhubaneswar, the DPRs were instead forwarded to the civil engineering department of VSSUT, Burla - an action the court found unjustifiable. The shift from IIT to VSSUT was based on a communication dated June 17, 2025, from the same private firm, whose credentials in handling hydraulic engineering projects remain unclear.
The city engineer assured the court that the revised DPR would be submitted by July 25. However, the court found no explanation for the deviation from government instructions and the involvement of the private consultancy in a project of such magnitude.
Highlighting the “lackadaisical” handling of the project, the bench directed the secretary of H&UD department to file a detailed affidavit by July 21, clarifying how the DPR was assigned to the private firm, why IIT-Bhubaneswar was bypassed and whether any action - administrative or through the state Vigilance - was being contemplated against erring officials.
The city engineer has also been asked to file a separate affidavit by the same date. The matter will next be heard on August 6, 2025.