Bhubaneswar: The Accountant General (AG) of Odisha has pulled up the state government for incurring extra expenditure of over Rs 80 crore while executing four infrastructure projects. Principal Accountant General of Odisha Bibhudutta Basantia has written a letter to the state Finance department, seeking the views of the government on the findings.
The AG has found excess expenditure of `9.87 crore in one Water Resource department project and also has said undue benefits worth `15.64 crore were given to a contractor on another project of the same department.
The AG has pulled up the Works department for excess expenditure of `52.41 crore during construction of two roads. He has also pointed out that the department had spent an excess of `2.17 crore in another project. Construction of two-lane roads with paved shoulders in violation of IRC specification led to an extra expenditure of `44.40 crore, the AG said.
Similarly, provision of eight per cent overhead charges on the estimated cost and 10 per cent contractor’s profit over it against the admissible 15 per cent has ensured undue benefit of `8.01 crore to the contractors in four road projects, the AG said in his observations.
The road projects are – Gopalpur-Chhattisgarh border road, Baripada-Bamanghati road on SH-50 (from Bisoi to Rairangapur), Godobandha-Kalanda road and Komtalpeta-Kalayansingpur road.
Similarly, the audit further said that laxity in monitoring for recovery of mobilisation advance paid to the contractor led to unsettled advance of `2.17 crore including interest. Execution for improving the Mahanadi river embankment from Baliput to Odasingha without ensuring availability of land resulted in the abandonment of work midway and that led to unfruitful expenditure of `9.87 crore.
Using of higher capacity crane of 80 tonne instead of the actual requirement of 35 tonne for lifting of armory stone boulders of not less than one MT inflated the estimated cost in 10 works, the AG said in his observations.
