Akhilesh era projects under Yogi scanner

Senior bureaucrats are in the line of fire, many of whom have been suspended

In the four months since he was sworn in as the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, Yogi Adityanath has turned the spotlight on a number of projects announced by his predecessor, Akhilesh Yadav of the Samajwadi Party.

Under scrutiny are projects worth crores of rupees for alleged irregularities and escalated costs. The Gomti Riverfront Development project, Agra-Lucknow Expressway, Jai Prakash Narayan International Centre and the efforts towards the beautification of Old Lucknow are just some of Yadav’s key initiatives that are today the subject of intense investigation. 

And, in the line of fire are senior bureaucrats, some of whom have been suspended, while investigation has been ordered against others on charges of corruption.

Besides these, the sale of 21 government-owned sugar mills during the Mayawati regime (2007-12), allegedly at throwaway prices, is also being investigated. A departmental inquiry into the sale during 2010-11 was ordered in April, and the state government has maintained it would not shy away from recommending an investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), if needed.

Recently, the Yogi government also recommended a CAG audit of the cash-rich development authorities of Noida, Greater Noida, Yamuna Expressway and Uttar Pradesh State Industrial Development Corporation (UPSIDC) following allegations of kickbacks and corruption in land deals.

Here’s a look at some of the top projects or departments that are currently under scrutiny.

Gomti Riverfront Development

Launched in 2014, the project was inaugurated by Yadav in November 2016 in the run-up to the 2017 UP elections before the model code of conduct kicked in.

Gomti Riverfront, the development of which was estimated to cost Rs 1,500 crore, was still only about half ready when an additional Rs 1,500 crore was requisitioned. This would have effectively increased its total cost to Rs 3,000 crore.

A view of the redeveloped Gomti Riverfront

When Yadav was chief minister, the then state irrigation and PWD minister, Shivpal Singh Yadav, and irrigation department principal secretary, Deepak Singhal, visited Japan to study riverfront developments in Tokyo and Osaka. Later, the Samajwadi Party government had mandated the UP irrigation and water resources department as the nodal agency to rejuvenate Gomti and develop a world-class riverfront.

After conducting a spot inspection of the project, Yogi Adityanath expressed dismay over the alleged 100 per cent cost overrun. He then instituted a committee, headed by Justice (retired) Alok Kumar Singh, to look into the alleged irregularities into the multi-crore project. In its report, the committee indicted the then chief secretary, Alok Ranjan, principal secretary irrigation Deepak Singhal and other senior officials for their purported neglect, lack of transparency and misappropriation of funds in awarding contracts.

The officials were also charged with facilitating tenders to select firms, arbitrarily fixing rates for tender and exhibiting apathy towards environmental issues. The report observed that the Gomti Riverfront project was riddled with environmental issues and cost overruns, besides having concept and design errors.

Later, the Yogi Adityanath government constituted a high-level committee to study the recommendations of the Justice Singh report, so that charges could be framed and action taken. It was chaired by UP cabinet minister Suresh Khanna and included Revenue Board Chairman Pravir Kumar, Additional Chief Secretary (finance) Anup Chandra Pandey and Principal Secretary (law and justice) Rangnath Mishra as members.

In its report, the committee fixed the blame on some bureaucrats and officials for the alleged lapses. 

Agra-Lucknow Expressway

The expressway, estimated at Rs 15,000 crore, was inaugurated by Akhilesh Yadav with much fanfare on November 21, 2016, in the presence of his father, Mulayam Singh Yadav, who was then Samajwadi Party president.

At that time, the Samajwadi Party power struggle was at its peak and the event, marked with the presence of all key party leaders, including Akhilesh Yadav’s uncle and arch-rival, Shivpal Singh Yadav, and his father’s cousin, Ram Gopal Yadav, served as an optic to show purported unity in the ruling Yadav clan and party.

The six-lane expressway, extendable to eight lanes, traverses 10 districts: Agra, Firozabad, Mainpuri, Etawah, Auraiya, Kannauj, Kanpur City, Unnao, Hardoi and Lucknow. It is aimed at providing seamless connectivity between Lucknow and Agra via the already operational Yamuna Expressway.

The Expressway, which is still incomplete, is under scrutiny for alleged scam involving farmland passed off as residential land to fetch higher compensation. The state government has directed the respective district magistrates to probe all big land deals over the last two years.

Besides, a central agency has also been commissioned for a thorough technical survey and field audit of the expressway. A field officer of UP Expressways Industrial Development Authority filed a police case in Firozabad district against chakbandi (land consolidation) officers and land owners charging them with passing off their agricultural land as residential land.

BJP president Amit Shah has on numerous occasions asserted that the cost of building the expressway was much higher than the cost incurred by the National Highways Authority of India and stressed the need for a thorough probe to expose the alleged wrongdoing.

Around 3,500 hectare of land was purchased from about 20,500 farmers spanning 10 districts for this project.

UPSIDC

A Vigilance department investigation was ordered against senior Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer Amit Ghosh for alleged financial irregularities in the awarding of tenders while serving as the UPSIDC managing director.

Ghosh was alleged to have been involved in the embezzlement of public funds in awarding contracts worth Rs 1,100 crore in the Trans-Ganga City (Kanpur) and Saraswati Hi-tech City (Allahabad) projects.

Ghosh was posted as the MD of UPSIDC on August 2, 2016, by Akhilesh Yadav, who was then the chief minister, but was removed by the Yogi Adityanath government on April 14, 2017. An investigation was ordered on a complaint by UPSIDC chief engineer Arun Mishra, who, interestingly, is himself facing a CBI probe for corruption. The two officials have been trading charges.

Also under the scanner

•  A museum in Old Lucknow’s Hussainabad area and the re-development of the adjoining area for which Akhilesh Yadav laid the foundation on December 4, 2016 — weeks before the model code of conduct was enforced in UP

•  Jai Prakash Narayan International Centre, the blueprint of which includes a museum, guest house, aquatic block with world-class swimming and diving pools, convention centre and sports complex

•  Lucknow International Cricket Stadium. A report on it has been sought from the UP sports department

•  An inquiry is on into civil works executed under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) under Akhilesh Yadav. Launched in 2005 by the Manmohan Singh government at the Centre, JNNURM was aimed at improving urban infrastructure in India. The Narendra Modi government has rechristened it the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation

•  Drinking water pipeline and overhead water tank project in Varanasi, which is Prime Minister Modi's Lok Sabha constituency

•  The CBI is already investigating the alleged mining scam in UP with regards to unauthorised and unbridled mining of sand and other minerals from the riverbeds, especially in the Bundelkhand region