Misuse of Funds under National Rural Emloyment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) - Khammam

At the outset I thank the District Administration of Khammam and the Project Director, DWMA for visiting Yerragunta village on 14 th February 2010, for on the spot evaluation of the water bodies, in response to my letters on the subject.

NREGS Works

This is to bring to kind notice of District Collector, that 35 works are taken up in Yerragunta Panchayat, at an estimated cost of Rs 103 Lakhs under NREGS, since 2006.

Feeder & Field Channels

As per Memo No.636/EGS/PM (T)/2008 of 20-01-10 issued by The Commissioner, Rural Development, Govt. of AP, the works pertaining to desilting of Feeder Channels & Field Channels are banned under NREGS, in all districts except in East Godavari,West Godavari, Krishna and Guntur districts, prior to the issue of the above stated Memo. Even after lifting the ban, the desilting

of Feeder and Field Channels is permitted only in Mandals mentioned in Annexure to the Memo, which does not include Chandrugonda Mandalam in Khammam district.

But in Yerragunta Panchayat of Chandrugonda Mandalam, the works on Feeder and Field Channels, at an estimated cost of Rs.16 Lakhs, are being taken up since 2006, some of which are still in progress.This needs to be investigated and reviewed.

Desiltation / Restoration of Kamikala Kunta

The Kamikala Kunta at Shanthinagar is also known as Banjaradharu Kunta and the particulars of works taken up on this,since 2006 are listed below:

Work Code Name & Type of Work Total Cost Start Date Status

50005 Desilting of Kamikala Kunta 1, 96,000 15-05-06 Completed

at Shanthinagar

50013 Desilting-Deepening of 4, 15,859 03-06-07 In-progress

Banjaradharu Kunta

50155 Comprehensive Restoration 8, 49,691 28-06-09 In-progress

of Banjaradharu Kunta at

Shanthinagar

10003 Feeder Channel- 43,697 01-04-08 Completed

Shanthinagar

30032 Desilting of Field Channel 94,500 01-04-08 Completed

Kamikala Kunta

50158 Work Site Facilities 16,248 28-06-09 In-progress

Banjaradharu Cheruvu

at Shanthinagar

60067 Land development including 2, 88,273 03-06-08 In-progress

Land leveling- Shanthinagar

60131 Desilting & Silt application to 4, 33,916 10-08-09 In-progress

Lands belonging to SC,ST etc

around Shanthinagar

The undersigned during his visit, to Kamikala Kunta (Banjaradharu Kunta) at Shanthinagar on 14 th February 2010,did not observe any desiltation/restoration/land leveling activities in and around the water body. There seems to be some illegal excavation of soil from the upstream towards the roadside. The water body is covered fully by the growth of wild-plants. Judging from the neglected state of Kamikala Kunta, the huge amounts reported to have been spent /being spent on so called restoration / desiltation, does not seem to be achieving the object of creation of durable assets by way of restoration of the Water Body. This needs to be thoroughly investigated with a view to establish accountability and to identify and penalize the culprits, if any, for misuse of NREGS Funds.

Desiltation / Restoration of Yerragunta Cheruvu

The particulars of works taken up on Yerragunta Cheruvu since 2006 are listed below:

50006 Desilting of Yerragunta Cheruvu 1, 81,750 06-07-06 Completed

50009 Restoration of Y - Cheruvu 6, 20,028 08-01-06 Completed

50057 Desilting of Y - Cheruvu 2, 50,950 25-05-08 In-progress

10019 Feeder Channel to Y-Cheruvu 3, 41,000 06-02-08 In-progress

10075 Desilting of Feeder Channel in Y.C 2,10, 401 20-04-08 In-progress

There are eight Cheruvus/Kuntas in Yerragunta Panchayat limits on which substantial amounts have been spent since 2006,in the name of their desiltation/ restoration, but with out the desired results. The case of Modugulu Kunta on which Rs.3.84 Lakhs (Work Code 50020) was spent in 2007 and the water was pumped by some of the villagers to cater for their selfish interests,ignoring the larger interests of the community, was brought to your kind notice during your visit to the village on 29 th November 2009.

Conclusion

There is an urgent need to stop all the ongoing desiltation works in Yerragunta Panchayat, till the method of planning, scheduling, implementing and effective monitoring of desiltation/restoration works under NREGS; are reviewed,with a view to create accountability for creation of durable assets by way of restoration of the traditional Water Bodies and to prevent any possibility of misuse / misappropriation of the funds.

There is also an urgent need to identify and demarcate the extent of area of all the water bodies to FTL, as per Revenue Records and evict the encroachers, if any, before desiltation/ restoration works are undertaken.

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