ITBP chief flags delay in over 100 CPWD projects

Among the list of delayed projects were rooms for officers at Joshimath; officers mess, library block and roads at the ITBP Academy in Mussoorie, barracks for jawans for an acclimatisation and staging camp and rooms for officers in Leh; and barracks, dog kennels and stables for horses in Lohitpur and Aalo in Arunachal Pradesh.

In his letter, Singh said in view of “nirantar gatirodh (continuous impasse)” on the India-China border, the Centre had put emphasis on completing construction of basic infrastructure for the ITBP units near the border. The CPWD had been entrusted with the responsibility of developing facilities, including barracks, office buildings, mess buildings, entertainment areas, hospitals, armouries, toilets among others, he wrote.

He said the pace of the projects being implemented by the CPWD was not satisfactory and that despite repeated letters, the pace had not picked up. Many projects were delayed for over three years, he wrote. He said the Home Ministry had taken the issue of delay in projects seriously and given instructions during review meetings to complete the projects in a time-bound manner. A project monitoring group or committee had also been set up by the Home Ministry to monitor the pace of work, he wrote.

Singh said he had visited a training school constructed by CPWD in Shivpuri, Madhya Pradesh, recently and found many shortcomings. He said instances of arbitration cases had also gone up. Due to the CPWD’s inability to spend the budget allotted to it in 2022-2023, Rs 150 crore was cut and the ITBP’s budget for 2023-2024 was also impacted, he said. He asked the CPWD to spend the amount given to it for the first two quarters of 2023-2024 so that additional funds could be asked for in the revised estimate.