11 Irrigation Dept. officials suspended

By Our Special Correspondent

BANGALORE, NOV. 23. As many as 11 officials of the Irrigation Department, including an Executive Engineer, have been suspended for irregularities in some of the schemes under the Upper Krishna and Upper Tunga projects.

This follows the findings in the audit report of the Comptroller and Auditor-General of India which implicated the 11 officials. The report has stated that the amount paid for tendered works was much more than the amount sanctioned.

In the construction of the Indi Branch Canal distributary network, the amount paid was Rs. 76.16 crore though the estimated amount was only Rs. 58.34 crore.

For another work on the same project, the amount paid was Rs. 80.13 crore, an increase of 33 per cent over the amount sanctioned. In all, five works were executed in the Indi Branch Canal distributary network.

Six engineers of the Indi Upper Canal network have been suspended. They are: S.A. Hiremath, Shivaji, K. Hanumanthappa and Shankar Naik (assistant engineers), and K.N. Gururaj and L.T. Allapur (junior engineers).

Three engineers of the canals attached to the Upper Tunga Project have been suspended. They are: C. Narayana Shetti (Executive Engineer), and Y. Gopal Krishna Gupta and L.K. Yatiraj (assistant executive engineers).

According to the suspension order issued by the Government, the irregularities included not following the Government Order in this regard, sanctioning of bills amounting to more than the price mentioned in the contract, purchase of explosives above the required quantity, and amount paid 113 per cent in excess of the amount sanctioned.

In respect of the execution of another scheme of the Upper Tunga Project, two others, Ashok Kumar (Chief Accountant) and Jayashankar (Accounts Officer) have been suspended.

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Section  : Southern States
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