CAG finds housing units in R&R colonies kept vacant due to lack of amenities

This is a performance audit by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India examining the Polavaram Irrigation Project in Andhra Pradesh, specifically covering the financial management, construction, land acquisition, and rehabilitation aspects for the year ended March 2023.

Who it concerns: Government of Andhra Pradesh (Water Resources Department)

What the auditor found

• Non-compliance with conditions stipulated by the Ministry of Environment & Forest.
• Implementation of Lift Schemes without statutory approval.
• Non-adherence to planned construction schedules leading to damage of the Diaphragm Wall.
• Grounding of works without prior approval of the competent authority.
• Arbitrariness in the selection of contract agencies and undue benefit to them.
• Avoidable liability and expenditure towards the treatment of a collapsed tunnel and rectification works.
• Incorrect inclusion of clauses for interest-free advances in agreements with contract agencies.
• Theft of spoil earth and non-disposal of excavated earth.
• Diversion of project land for a housing scheme.
• Non-recovery of dues from contract agencies.
• Inordinate delay in the publication of Preliminary Notifications for land acquisition.
• Payment of land acquisition compensation to ineligible landowners and for ineligible land (including Khalsa land).
• Payment of compensation for unclaimed land and without ownership records.
• Land-to-land apportionment made more than the prescribed limit.
• Incorrect identification of habitations and inconsistency in data on Project Displaced Families (PDFs).
• Acquisition of unfit land for cultivation for R&R colonies.
• Housing units kept vacant due to a lack of essential amenities.
• Non-payment of additional R&R packages to Project Displaced Families.
• Lack of an effective mechanism for the speedy disposal of grievances.

Also in the document

• CAG reported that housing units in Rehabilitation and Resettlement (R&R) colonies were kept vacant because they lacked essential amenities.
• CAG noted that land-to-land allotments were made to ineligible beneficiaries and exceeded the permissible limits in several cases.
• CAG found that compensation was paid for unclaimed land and to individuals whose names were not found in revenue records.
• CAG identified that the implementation of Lift Schemes occurred without the required statutory approvals.