losses flowed out of Punjab Government’s ‘ambitious’ plan to provide pure water in its rural areas. The latest report by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India on Social, General and Economic sectors pointed that deficient planning led to irregular and excess expenditure of Rs14.84 crore on installation of Reverse Osmosis Plants.
It found that the Government incurred Rs4.25 crore on 37 RO Plants with “zero” penetration level. Besides, 19 RO plants, involving Rs1.62 crore, were found non-functional. The State Government had installed 1811 RO plants during March 2009 to December 2012 in 16 districts of the state under various projects including Punjab Nirman Programme, additional central assistance of Rs25 crore, and Punjab Infrastructure Development Board (PIDB).
The plants were installed at a total cost of Rs217.96 crore “without conducting any pilot study”. A total of 1508 plants were installed by PIDB at a cost of Rs188.59 crore, while 250 under Central assistance, and 53 under Punjab Nirman Programme.
Maximum 293 RO plants were installed at Fazilka, followed by 271 at Bathinda, 237 at Mansa, 231 at Muktsar, 186 at Moga, 178 at Ferozepur, 148 at Faridkot, while 72 were installed at Sangrur, 66 in Tarn Taran, 58 in Patiala, and 39 in ludhiana. Other districts — Barnala (13), Kapurthala (13), Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar (three), Fatehgarh Sahib (two), and Jalandhar (one) — were also covered.
The main aim was to provide treated water for drinking and cooking purposes in the rural areas where uranium, total dissolved solids (TDS), hardness and fluoride were found in the water beyond permissible limits. The RO plants were also installed in the villages, located at the tail end of canal, where canal water was not available. The water was to be provided at the rate of Rs10 paise per litre.
The analysis by the CAG pointed that1601 RO plants, targeting to cover 50 percent population, was achieved only in respect of 574 RO plants — 36 percent. “The low penetration level indicted that necessary awareness among the villagers was not created to consume RO treated water,” stated the report.
The report found that the State Government “irregularly” installed 108 RO plants at Abohar in Ferozepur district at a cost of Rs 14.33 crore at places where 94 canal-based supply schemes were already functional. Moreover, the lab reports has maintained that the canal water, so supplied, was “potable” as the TDS in water is within permissible limit (500 miligram per litre) — ranged between 101 and 187.
Besides, the reports pointed that the Department of Water Supply and Sanitation, “due to wrong adoption of formula”, installed plants with higher capacity resulting in excess expenditure of Rs0.51 crore.
It added that 26 RO plants were installed in Fazilka and Sangrur at a cost of Rs2.983 crore without calling tenders against the Punjab Budget Manual.
Further, the “ungainful expenditure” of Rs1.62 crore was incurred on installation of 19 plants in Bathinda as the firm, responsible to run and maintain the plants, did not pay electricity bills, and the divisional officer made “no concrete efforts” to run the plants.