Jammu Redefining
6
| March 9-March 22, 2014
INTACH paid 33 lakh for preparing Incomplete DPRs: CAG
T
HE latest report of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India
ended March 31, 2013 has revealed that the detailed project report
prepared by Indian National Trust for Art and culture Heritage
(INTACH) was rejected by the technical
advisory committee on the ground that
these were incomplete to the extent that
no detailed drawings, estimates and
other engineering details had been
provided in the report.
In December 2007 an MOU for
preparation
of
DPR for restoration of Mubarak
Mandi Heritage
complex and is
adaptive re-use
as Tourism destination
cumsocio
culture
Heritage centre
was executed
with
INTACH
and an amount
of Rs 33 lakh
was paid during
December 2007
to March 2011.
In June 2009 INTACH submitted the DPRs which were rejected by the
technical committee.
According to the CAG report despite rejection further payment of Rs
4.50 lakh was made by the society and no action was taken against
INTACH for submission of incomplete DPRs despite making huge pay-
ments.
The CAG has also revealed a project for restoration of Public service
commission/ High Court building of Mubarak Mandi Heritage
Complex was sanctioned in August 2006 for
4.37 crore and the first installment of 3
crore was released.
Since the restoration of
said buildings
was entrusted
to
ASI
an
amount of Rs
3.52
crore
were released
to ASI between
June 2008 to
December
2010. The estimates submitted by ASI
were limited to
floors
and
walls only and
the
wooden
ceilings were
not included
therein.
The ASI executed the work of walls and floors at a cost of Rs 3.47 crore
and incomplete buildings were taken over January 2012 by the Mubarak
Mandi heritage society which could not be put to adaptive re-use as convention/conference centre. Thus failure of the society in evaluating the
estimates and taking over the incomplete buildings resulted in unfruitful
expenditure of 3.47 crore.
Adventure Sports equipment dumped in Stores: CAG
T
HE Tourism department may
have been busy making tall
claims of promoting adventure
tourism in the state but the latest
CAG report has revealed that
equipment worth lakhs of rupees
purchased for the promotion of
adventure sports has been lying in
stores and yet to be issued for the
desired activity.
According to CAG report, the
Directorate of Tourism Jammu purchased adventure equipment like
White water river rafts, Kayaks,
mountaineering equipments etc for
36 lakh during the period 2007-09.
Audit check has revealed that
only rafting equipment had been
rented out to two private firm son
few occasions and rest of the equipment like Kayaks and mountaineering equipment had never been used
for promotion of adventure activities
in the Jammu region.
Some of the mountaineering
equipment were issued to Jawahar
Institute of Mountaineering and winter sports, Pahalgam. This indicated
that the department purchased
adventure equipment without formulating plans for their utilization
and promotion of adventure activi-
ties. Similarly the Director Tourism
Kashmir also purchased adventure
equipment valuing Rs 30 lakh under
the project Development of Leh
which were never dispatched to Leh
due to non-availability of of equipment stores at Leh and were lying in
the stories at Srinagar.