Contractor made a sell, though no water came in

Accordingly, the contract was allotted in 1993 and the contractor started work on the project which included digging of the well, construction of a reservoir and a small room for installation of a motor pump.

When the contractor started the work, the department laid underground galvanised iron (GI) pipes worth lakhs in the entire vicinity of the park to provide water to flower beds and plants.

The pipe-laying work was completed even before the well was dug. However, when the contractor dug the well to the estimated depth of 80 feet, not a drop of water came out. This despite the fact that the site is located only about 100 metres from Tawi river and the ground-water level in the area is the highest in Jammu.

Sources said that when the concerned wing of the department refused to make payments to the contractor as the water had not come out, the contractor played a trick. “He engaged tankers in the night and after filling the well to some depth, announced in the morning that water had come out of the well. He also distributed sweets among his workers and senior officers of the department,” an official recalled. The officers concerned visited the site and in their report verified the presence of water in the well after which the payment to the contractor, worth several lakhs, was made.

However, till date, the well has remained dry. Money spent on underground pipes, construction of well and reservoir has all gone waste.

Efforts to contact senior officers did not materialize. However, sources said the ground water-level at the site was quite below the level to which the well had been dug. On the suggestion that a rock could be stopping the water from coming out, they said that as no soil testing had been got done before allotment of the project, nothing could be ruled out.