CAG slams state for not using 40% of infra funds

AHMEDABAD: Seven years ago, the Gujarat government had allocated Rs 22,000 crore urban fund under the Swarnim Gujarat Mukhya Mantri Shaheri Vikas Yojana (SJMMSVY) for creating citizen-centric infrastructure.
The latest Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) report tabled in state assembly on Tuesday claimed that only 62% (Rs13,618 crore) of that massive corpus was spent on worthwhile projects, and the rest couldn't be released due to faults of urban bodies.
The corpus was to meet core infrastructure needs or urban Gujarat -water supply , roads, public transport, drains and affordable housing -across eight major municipal corporations and 159 nagarpalikas along with areas under urban development authorities. Inordinate delays in execution of projects and cost escalations ­ especially in drainage, water supply and road projects ­ hamstrung implementation of the scheme, according to CAG.
More still, the CAG found that in many nagarpalikas, citizens complained of deplorable roads. Upon investigation, it was revealed that nagarpalikas in Gujarat had spent a whopping Rs 691crore till March this year first to build roads and then to dig up the same. A huge expenditure of Rs140 crore was incurred above the estimated costs just due to delay in finalization of tenders, CAG report pointed out. The SJMMSVY had promised to provide 140 litres of water to every individual in 159 nagar palikas, but this dream was realized in just 15 of those areas, despite the funds being there. The CAG criticized the criminal wastage and questioned the Gujarat government's claim of 'model nagarpalika'.