The Comptroller and Auditor General of India report on General, Social, Economic and Revenue Sectors including PSUs for the year ended March 2019 has indicated gross irregularities in the rural bridges scheme alongwith several lacunas in other schemes and functioning of different departments of the State government. The Audit Report was presented to the State Legislature on September 08, 2021.
Under the General, Social And Economic Sectors in the Audit of implementation of Mukhya Mantri Gram Setu Yojna in the State it was found that the department neither framed any operational guidelines nor conducted any survey to assess the un-bridged gaps in rural roads requiring construction of a bridge. Though the Department issued instructions through circulars/letters to manage the scheme and had a District Rural Road Plan (DRRP) under Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojna (PMGSY) with information on gaps in rural road network, these were not adhered to.
Principal Accountant General, Jharkhand, Indu Agrawal informed in a press conference here on Thursday that the bridges under the scheme were selected on the recommendations of MPs/MLAs/others without examining their feasibility or factoring in the un-bridged gaps in DRRP. Resultantly, bridges were constructed outside the realm of DRRP, at places having pre-existing bridges constructed under different schemes within one KM connecting same/nearby habitats and in municipal areas.
Of the 208 incomplete bridge works in the State as on March 2019, 39 bridges could not be completed despite their completion periods by over six months to nine years and six months.
The Department did not have any operational guidelines for engagement of consultants for preparation of Draft Project Reports (DPRs). Resultantly, undue benefits were extended to the empanelled consultants by keeping their period of engagement open ended leaving no scope for entry of new consultants and absence of penalty clause, performance review of consultants based on assessment criteria, review of DPRs of consultants by independent agencies etc.
The consultants did not conduct the required geo-technical investigations, hydrological and traffic data analysis. As a result, eight bridges constructed at a cost of Rs 52.12 crore out of 42 test-checked bridge works got fully or partly damaged subsequently.
In designing approach roads, the consultants provided sharp curves (up to 90 degree) at the entry/exit point of 16 bridges and shortened the width (3.75 metres to 4.1 metres) of approaches in comparison to width of bridges (7.5 metre) in 28 bridge works. The consultants had also added extra provision or five per cent for laps and wastage of steel valued at 92.41 crow in 33 sampled bridge works.
The tender and agreement documents were loaded in favour of contractors such as reduction in defect liability period of bridges etc. No responsibility was fixed for execution of sub-standard storks valued at Rs 52.07 crow in six bridges. In the absence of periodic maintenance of completed bridges, scouring in bridge foundations, wear and tear in expansion joints and wearing coats, cracks in RCC works and damages in elastomeric bearing, damages to railings, footpaths, approach roads and flanks etc, were noticed during joint physical verification.
Also, the AG report indicates loss of Rs several crores to the exchequer in various departments due to lack of proper mechanism, delayed mapping, lack of coordination among departments and others.