Chhatrapur: Truckloads of coconut saplings have been purchased from Andhra Pradesh by the office of the assistant director of Horticulture department in Chhatrapur without floating a proper tender, sources said Sunday. Locals have alleged that large scale irregularities have been committed while buying the saplings.
“Lakhs of rupees have been misappropriated during the purchase of saplings,” said former sarpanch of Sriramchandrapur, S Chakrapani Reddy. He has demanded an investigation into the buying of saplings.
Reddy added that the Horticulture department claims that it is growing coconut saplings on its own. However, that is not the case. The saplings are purchased from Andhra Pradesh and later sold to farmers through SHG members.
“After saplings are unloaded from trucks, they are immediately kept on the ground, just to give impression that they are grown by the Horticulture department,” he added.
When asked, deputy director of Horticulture department, Subash Panda denied the allegations. He said that he has knowledge about saplings being brought from Puri and Gajapati districts, but he has no idea about those being purchased from Andhra Pradesh.
PNN
