Ragadi: In a bid to boost agriculture in Jajpur district, the state government has been executing a number of minor irrigation projects but implementation of some of them has been dismal while work of others has been abandoned. At the same time, contractors have raked in moolah by compromising with the quality of work.
Reports said many minor irrigation projects (MIPs) do not come to the use of farmers in crisis. Bhangabandh MIP, which is supposed to irrigate 70 acres of land in Korei block, is a case in point.
The contractor abandoned its work three years ago and got away with money. Villagers of Talagada panchayat alleged that a contractor has misappropriated lakhs of rupees meant for repair of Bhangabandh MIP near Mangarajpur. Jajpur MIP division had sanctioned `58.40 lakh for restoration of the MIP in FY 2019-20. As per the agreement with the contractor, the work should have been started February 4, 2019 and completed by December 3, 2019.
However, the contractor and officials of the department botched up the restoration work to misappropriate funds, villagers alleged. The bill of the work, however, has been cleared to the contractor. Executive engineer of the MIP division G Ramkrishna had directed the contractor to undertake the work as per the scheme guidelines, but it yielded no results.
People of Mangarajpur, Bandi and Kantajhari alleged that despite restoration, the project is of no use. Ramkrishna, however, explained that the work of MIP has not been completed due to land dispute. The Revenue department has been intimated to find a solution to the dispute. He denied allegation about botched-up work.