Even as successive Governments have been declaring many times for development the Vyasa Sarovar area since long, the historical place lies neglected as ever.
The rush of activities gets halted after the 11-day Vyasa Sarovar Mahotsav every year. Everybody forgets about the place till the next year’s festivities. The site then falls into the hands of the mafias.
They cut trees, excavate mohrrum, disfigure the lovely nature, collect ransom from railway contractor by giving protection for loot of mohrrum and soil from the area. As almost all areas of this shrine are forest land, a massive plantation programme has started since 2014.
The Cuttack forest division planted here 5,000 saplings in 2014 and 9,000 in 2015 on ‘Urban Plantation Scheme’ for the Vyasanagar Municipality. As per the provision, the department has to spend Rs 800 per each planted sapling for a year for watering, maintenance, watching, giving manure, compost etc. But it is alleged that substandard works were done in the scheme at the behest of Cuttack DFO Sudarshan Behera and crores of rupees were gulped.
The trees withered due to lack of proper watering and maintenance. In the scheme 20,000 saplings were planted in Vyasanagar municipality area including the VN College, NC High School, Model School, Vyasanagar Public School, Saraswati Sisu Mandir School, Dhabalgiri High School, New Police Station campus, Sai Mandir campus, Medical back site area, OMC-Ferrochrome plant road side, IG Women’s College Chhak and Dala-Chhotraypur road side.
As per rule, there will be a guard for watch of 1,000 planted saplings for four years. For 20,000 planted saplings there will be 20 guards but the DFO deployed only four persons on minimum wages of monthly Rs6,000. Similarly, instead of engaging one water tanker for watering of 2,000 saplings, the department hired only two tankers on monthly rental basis of Rs38,000 each in place of using 10 tankers for the purpose. Instead of spending Rs3, 80,000 for 10 tankers, the department spent only Rs76,000. Similarly, instead of paying Rs1, 20,000 to 20 guards for watching, only Rs24,000 was spent. Other maintenances like giving manure, compost, cleaning of unnecessary grass were not done. False vouchers were prepared instead. There were no planted trees found on OMC-Ferrochrome Road but false vouchers were passed for payment.
For 2014, 2015 and 2016 the total expenditure is estimated to be about Rs3.5 crore. But considering the works done on ground, the spending would be maximum Rs50 lakh. This is putting a big question mark in the transparency of executing the scheme and the role of Cuttack DFO Nayak, Jajpur Road Range Officer Pranab Patnaik and Forester Duttahari Nayak.
Similarly, on NREGS scheme under Jajpur Road forest range, crores of rupees have been bungled. There were massive irregularities in the three central nurseries at Danagadi, Bangalil Sahi, Jajpur Road and Panikoili under CAMPA Yojana, according to sources.
Though, 1,10,000 saplings were grown in the three nurseries as shown in the records, 35,000 each at Danagadi and Jajpur Road and 40,000 at Panikoili nursery for free distribution, it is alleged that the saplings were grown freely on laterite soil provided by ‘Gayatri Projects limited’, a road contractor of Panikoili-Rajamunda NH-215 road. The department used substandard seed and used no manure and compost in the preparation of saplings, sources alleged. Instead of preparing high quality of saplings, the department made forest kisam saplings like Akasi, Eucalyptus, Sirish, Sisu, Krushnachda and Teak etc. As Akasi and Eucalyptus are officially banned for plantation, how the department grew and distributed these species is a big question. For this reason, people did not take interest in procuring the saplings leading the failure of the scheme.
A high-level departmental inquiry as well Vigilance probe in this connection is urgently required, suggested many locals here.