Rs 10 crore payment to Narmada contractor illegal: Cong

Partipicating in a debate over budgetary demands for the Narmada project in the Assembly,state Congress president Siddharth Patel said that the Jaiprakash Associates undertaking the construction of the dam was illegally paid Rs 10.37 crore.

The Dabhoi MLA said the payment was made on the pretext that this machinery had remained idle when the work on the dam was temporarily stopped with the Narmada Control Authority denying permission to raise the height of the dam.Quoting CAG report,he said the machinery was not idle,and it was used for digging tunnel,which was also a part of the overall Narmada project. And the company was also paid by the government for digging the tunnel. “It is not possible for a machinery to remain idle and operational at the same time,” he said in the assembly,adding that “idle charges” paid to the company were illegal.

In another case,he said that Delhi-based Harishchandra India Limited was blacklisted by the Sardar Sarovar Narmada Nigam Limited (SSNNL) in June 2007 for sub-standard work. However,when the new chairman took over,the company was given work again in July 2009.

Patel said that only 26 per cent of the total canal network of Narmada had been completed so far with a total expenditure of Rs 2,900 crore. He said that irrigation water could reach the farmers’ fields only when minor and sub-minor canals were constructed.