ITANAGAR, 17 Jul: The Arunachal Pradesh state unit of the Human Rights International Federation (HRIF) has urged the state government to constitute a high- level independent technical inquiry committee to investigate into the alleged irregularities in execution of PMGSY and Rural Works Department (RWD) road projects in Dibang Valley district.
Seeking a comprehensive technical, financial and administrative investigation into possible violations of PMGSY guidelines and misuse of public funds in crores of rupees, and divisions of DPR, the HRIF state president Ano Umpey stated that “Dibang Valley is one of the least populated districts in India. Despite having comparatively fewer villages and habitations, an unusually large number of PMGSY projects have been sanctioned over different phases.
Such concentration of projects deserves scrutiny to determine whether every project satisfied the planning criteria prescribed under PMGSY.”
In a complaint letter to the chief minister on Friday, the HRIF state unit claimed possibility of “artificial fragmentation,” stating that “several projects originate from existing BRO/BRTF roads and extend towards nearby villages.”
Citing 17 road projects in Dibang Valley district, the federation said that, while the objective of improving rural connectivity is fully supported, the pattern of sanctioning, planning and execution of these projects has given rise to serious public concern.
“Based on available departmental records and observations from the field, there are substantial issues requiring independent investigation, the unit said.
“It requires independent verification whether some stretches have been fragmented into multiple packages, which, if viewed collectively, substantially serve the same road corridor,” it said.
Claiming multiple roads in the same corridor, the federation said that “certain projects appear to originate from common junctions or nearby locations.”
The unit said that it is necessary to determine whether every road presently exists exactly on the alignment approved in the DPR.
It said that inquiry should not be confined only to construction quality. “The investigation committee should also determine whether every project was genuinely required in the areas where there are zero pollution as per census and whether the DRRP justified each project or not,” it said.
Copies of the complaint letter were also submitted to the deputy chief minister, the chief secretary, the RWD secretary, and the principal secretary of the prime minister’s office.
