Irregularities found in 73 Jal-Jeevan mission works

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar:

Irregularities have been detected in 73 tap water supply scheme works under the Jal Jeevan Mission in the district. Clarifications have been sought from the concerned officials, and further administrative action will be taken once their responses are received. Additionally, a preliminary inquiry has been initiated into 25 other schemes, Water Supply minister Gulabrao Patil informed while replying to a starred question in the Assembly.

Local MLAs Prashant Bamb, Vilas Bhumre, and Sanjana Jadhav had raised questions on the issue during the session. According to them, executive engineers, contractors, project management committees, third-party inspection agencies, and the chief executive officer allegedly acted in collusion, neglecting poor-quality work and recording incorrect measurements, leading to major irregularities in the implementation of the Jal Jeevan Mission projects.

The matter of Jal Jeevan Mission works has repeatedly come up in District Planning Committee meetings, followed by periodic inspections. However, officials have reportedly provided vague responses regarding how many villages genuinely benefited and what outcomes were achieved compared to the total expenditure. Unpaid bills of contractors and questions over the quality of work have also raised concerns.