CAG finds ₹2.31 crore paid for unexecuted HGNJ works in Bihar

It assessed the performance of the Panchayati Raj Department (PRD), Public Health and Engineering Department (PHED), and Urban Development and Housing Department (UD&HD) in providing piped water supply.

Who it concerns: Government of Bihar; Panchayati Raj Department (PRD); Public Health and Engineering Department (PHED); Urban Development and Housing Department (UD&HD).

What the auditor found

• Reported rural household coverage was inflated at 98.70% as of March 2023, compared to 95.71% actual coverage as of November 2025.
• Urban coverage was reported at 94% as of March 2023, failing to meet the 100% target set for March 2020.
• PHED failed to cover 11.22 lakh households in 46,633 rural wards, including 8.07 lakh households in quality-affected areas.
• ₹2.77 crore was spent on installing Fluoride Removal Plants in 15 schemes where water quality was not affected by high fluoride levels.
• ₹2.31 crore was paid to contractors in five test-checked PH divisions for works that were not executed.
• 59% of PHED schemes commenced only in 2019-20 or late 2018-19, despite a target completion date of end of 2019-20.
• Water quality management was deficient, with many quality-affected wards lacking functional water treatment plants or chlorinators.
• Monitoring systems like NischaySoft and Nagarsewa were found to be unreliable or non-functional.
• Recommendations include ensuring efficient planning, 100% coverage of eligible beneficiaries, and detailed surveys.

Also in the document

• CAG found that ₹2.31 crore was paid to contractors for works that had actually not been executed.
• CAG noted that ₹2.77 crore was wasted on installing Fluoride Removal Plants in habitations where water was not affected by high fluoride levels.
• CAG reported that 77 quality-affected wards were covered by Ward Implementation and Management Committees without water treatment plants.
• CAG stated that water quality testing was inadequate due to infrastructure gaps, manpower shortages, and non-utilisation of test kits, leaving significant households exposed to unsafe water.