Guwahati, July 22: A performance audit carried out by the comptroller and auditor general (CAG) on flood control has revealed that construction of three embankments in Assam were left incomplete owing to non-availability of land.
The audit on Schemes for Flood Control and Flood Forecasting by the CAG examined whether such schemes and the review and oversight mechanisms were effective. The CAG reviewed the projects sanctioned during the 11th Plan and 12th Plan from 2007 to 2016 for an overview of flood management in the country.
Construction of three embankments of a total length of 30.235km was approved under three projects between August 2011 and December 2013 at a total cost of Rs 135.40 crore.
"The work was left midway with physical progress of 40 to 80 per cent and total financial progress of Rs 15.36 crore due to non-availability of land. The embankments were only partially constructed and there were a number of gaps. As a result, the entire length was exposed to the threat of inundation. This was significant as the areas where the projects were sanctioned had suffered floods every year from 2012 to 2016," it said.
The flood management programme guidelines say while submitting a new proposal, state governments should ensure acquisition of land required for the projects and submit a certificate, failing which no funds would be released. Further, the land acquisition process is to be funded by the state governments. It said if any state government was found to have provided wrong details in the certificate regarding acquisition of land, the project would be dropped and any funds release would be adjusted appropriately.
The Union ministry of water resources has agreed to examine the cases mentioned in the report.
In the case of inadequate planning and palliative measures, the report found that after completion of flood protection work in Assam at a cost of Rs 16.72 crore, the areas were inundated because of lack of protective measures to prevent backflow from the river, non-establishment of embankment near the sluice gate and damage to newly constructed embankment. "As a result, protection measures undertaken by the departments were not sufficient to prevent flood damage," it said.
The projects include raising and strengthening the dyke from Janjimukh to Neemati along Mudoijan PWD road and anti-erosion work at Sagunpara in Jorhat district at a cost of Rs 7.35 crore and raising and strengthening of the embankment on the right bank of the Longai in and around Patharkandi in Karimganj district at Rs 6.47 crore.
In another case of improper calculation of benefit-cost ratio in three projects in Assam, the data of past damage was not available. The area likely to be eroded in 50 years was worked out on the basis of average annual erosion (calculated on actual erosion from four to 12 years). Thus, data on probable damage was taken into consideration instead of actual data.
