PWD sitting on Rs 50 crore given by Centre for lake works

The department for the above said period sent a proposal to the state and Central governments to take up lake improvement works. Subsequently, the Union government sanctioned Rs 50 crore as its contribution. 

However, no work was done by the PWD and this has drawn severe criticisms from water experts. Sources said that there were around 14,000 lakes under PWD maintenance and these are crucial sources for irrigation to lakhs of acres. The PWD, which was also well aware of this fact, decided to undertake improvement works like deepening of lakes to increase storage capacity and strengthening of bunds to prevent breaches and desilting. 

“Accordingly, the PWD earmarked around 50 lakes during 2015-16, prepared a blueprint and sent it to the state and Centre. Since such big projects will come under the Union government, the Centre allotted Rs 50 crore last year as its share,” said an official, on condition of anonymity. 

However, the PWD neither carried out any improvement work nor communicated to the state about the funds lying unused. Another engineer said that whenever the PWD took up master project, the Centre would allot sizable amount according to the requirement. 

“In the same way, the Centre allotted Rs 50 crore. But, the state neither issued any instructions to the department nor allotted its financial component for the works. As such the project should be completed by March, 2017. But, not an inch of work has been done. If the project is not completed within stipulated time, the state should return the allotted funds to the Centre,” the official explained. When contacted, a senior engineer, PWD, admitted that they could not take up work in any of the lakes. 

“The allotted fund proved to be insufficient when compared to the quantum of work we proposed to do. Further, the state, on its part, also did not allocate funds,” the engineer said. However, the department would request the Centre to extend the deadline and start work soon, he added. Water experts expressed displeasure over lackadaisical attitude of the officials. 

A Veerappan, former special chief engineer, Chennai, said “I am shocked and can’t understand why the government is not serious about these water resources. We have to learn from our neighbours, who leave no stone unturned to save water.” The state should give top priority to water resources by allotting adequate funds, he stressed.