Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) has registered an FIR after finding that full payment was made for incomplete works under the 'Har Ghar Nal Jal' scheme in Mauganj district.
The contractor was to ensure water supply to 740 houses, but not a single household received it. Despite being paid Rs 3.85 crore for the project, the contractor failed to deliver.
Those booked include the then Public Health Engineering (PHE) executive engineer JP Dwivedi, the then assistant engineer Sanjay Pandey, the then sub-engineer AP Tiwari and contractor Shivendra Kumar Tiwari. They have been booked under the Prevention of Corruption Act.
In 2021, the 'Har Ghar Nal Jal' scheme under Jal Jeevan Mission was launched in Naigarhi development block of Mauganj district to ensure water supply to homes in different villages.
Under the project, earthwork, road casting, HDPE pipe fitting, construction of pump house and valve chamber, automatic water level indicator, installation of submersible water motor pump, electricity fitting, household and tap connections, water head tank and many other works were scheduled in the contract awarded to a firm owned by Shivendra Tiwari.
The PHE officials paid the full amount of Rs 3.85 crore to the contractor, but the works were not done.
Water pipes laid only up to village outskirts
Various irregularities have come to the fore in the implementation of the project. The newly constructed water tank under the project in Khatkhari collapsed.
Water was to be supplied to individual households across various villages in Naigarhi tehsil.
The contractor, however, laid the pipeline only up to the village outskirts and failed to install taps inside homes or construct concrete circular stand-posts.
Construction work, including the water tank, submersible motor pump, pipeline fitting, pump house and boundary wall, was scheduled for completion within nine months, yet the project remains unfinished even after five years.
In Karah village, only one submersible motor was found instead of five, and against the claim of 740 connections, not even a single household had tap fittings installed.
Construction of the overhead tank and sump well was found incomplete in Shivrajpur village.
In Judmaniya Raghunath village, while the main pipeline was laid, no connections were made to individual homes, and the main pipeline itself covered only half the village.
