Senior BJP leader Saryu Roy has shot off a letter to State Chief Secretary to take immediate action against corruption and anarchy prevalent in the Electricity department and Jharkhand State Electricity Board due to involvement of politicians, administrators, engineers and managers.
He expressed concerns irregularities found in the repair and safety measures regarding the Sikidiri Hydel Power Project and alleged that an amount of Rs 20 crores has been swindled from the State exchequer due to the collective connivance of the managers of Jharkhand Electricity Board and BHEl, apart from engineers involved in the project, out of which, a sum of Rs 4.17 crore has already been spent/paid.
The engineers of Sikidiri Electricity Project had estimated an amount of about Rs.2.68 crore to be spent on the project with an additional Rs 2 crore to be spent on essential items.
However, an amount of Rs.23.45 (including tax) was given to BHEl & BHEl, in turn, sub-let this job to a private firm in Delhi by the name “Northern Power Erectors ltd” for Rs 15.30 core (including tax).
This firm delayed the work by several months, showed the job as ‘complete’ despite being ‘incomplete’ due to which a loss of about Rs 30 crore was incurred by the Board by the time of its commissioning.
“The board did not bother to question BHEl as to why it sub-let the job to a private firm and instead, BHEl went ahead with full speed and spent more than the amount required for this project, a clear case of corruption. Did anyone from the Electricity Board keep a member (s) of the team of directors in dark about this dealIJ If yes, then why was no action taken on my letters sent different authorities like the office of Chief Minister, Chief Secretary, energy secretary & the finance secretaryIJ This did not happen for one time but for about half-a-dozen times. Why didn’t a proper investigation take place or the process hinderedIJ” Roy wrote in his letter.