Uttarakhand in a bind over CAG report on Kumbh Mela

A year ago, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank had demanded Nobel prize for holding the Maha Kumbh Mela at Haridwar. But now, a new report of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) has put the government in a tight spot by highlighting wasteful, avoidable and unauthorised expenditures of nearly Rs 43 crore in the Maha Kumbh Mela, which was organised last year from January 1 to April 30 with a total action plan of Rs 590 crore with the Centre contributing Rs 565 crore. An expenditure of Rs 439.5 crore was incurred till July 2010 by the state government.

The report also stated that 54 works with approved cost of Rs 180.07 crore remained incomplete. “Performance audit revealed absence of integrated plan, lack of coordination among various departments, substandard work and poor management of affairs in various areas,” said the CAG report.

Audit noticed that detailed and comprehensive planning like preparation of integrated plan for the mela was absent. Of 311 approved works, only 82 works were completed before the start of the mela. Besides, 43 additional works were executed without prior sanction which resulted in committed liability on the government. Five works were sanctioned in an unauthorised manner. The report said late release of sanctions created pressure upon executing agencies due to which irregular payment of advances to contractors were made and not adjusted in time.

“Loss of revenue, non-accountal of accrued interest, short realisation of revenue, incorrect reporting regarding utilisation of funds indicated lack of financial control. Moreover, works were taken up by the executing agencies in a hasty manner leading to improper assessment, substandard execution and unfruitful, excess, avoidable and wasteful expenditure,” it said.

The CAG said unauthorised expenditure of Rs 19.39 crore for executing 43 works was incurred by 11 departments without prior approval of the government.

Improvement, extension of geological unsuitable hill bypass road and construction of road on disputed land Haridwar led to avoidable expenditure of Rs 11.64 crore, it stated. Execution of strengthening work of 29.645 km motor road was done without approved design and against the guidelines of Indian Road Congress (IRC) which led to avoidable expenditure of Rs 3 crore, it said.

It also said lackadaisical approach toward generation of revenue from parking, providing of tin and water charges by the Mela administration led to loss of Rs 3.85 crore. Accepting of arbitrary conditions raised by contractors in negotiations on hiring tin and furniture led to extra expenditure of Rs 4.77 crore.

However, the CAG lauded the government for construction and renovation of 3,310 meters of bathing ‘ghats’ before the start of the Mela saying it proved to be a milestone which enhanced the capacity of ghats for catering to the needs of large number of pilgrims. Significantly, Nishank had been describing the kumbh mela as one of the big achievements of his government.