WODC Chairman and Jharsuguda district BJD president Kishore Kumar Mohanty has levelled serious charges against the district administration and the local MlA alleging gross misappropriations in the allocation of tenders in the ongoing and upcoming projects in Jharsuguda.
He said the district administration and the MlA have colluded to unduly favour the Concast company.
Addressing a Press conference, Mohanty said an advance of Rs8 crore has been extended to the Concast by the administration without following due tender process for construction of a new bus-stand and a Kalyan Mandap.
He also said that by reducing the height of a Gandhi statue and abruptly announcing an unwarranted beautification project, the administration is misusing lakhs of rupees instead of allocating money for construction of an over-bridge near Bombay Chowk.
Mohanty further alleged that although the Concast has taken an advance of Rs8 crore towards construction of projects, it has produced an utilisation certificate for only Rs3.89 crore which, according to Mohanty, confirms that the remaining amount has been diverted by the company towards other projects.
In a memorandum to the district Collector, the district BJD has demanded penal action against the persons involved in the alleged rigging of tenders and undue favouritism extended to the company at the cost of taxpayers’ money.
Jharsuguda Municipality Chairman Haris Ganatra and senior BJD leaders Tapas Rai Choudhary, Manoranjan Mohapatra and Jai Kumari Patel were also present at the Press meet.