Bhubaneswar: The BJP on Friday demanded a CBI probe into the alleged irregularities in the construction of Gurupriya bridge in Malkangiri.
However, the BJD promptly rejected the demand for a CBI probe and termed it unnecessary. The party alleged that the BJP was making the demand out of jealousy as chief minister Naveen Patnaik had fulfilled a 60-year-old dream of region. The project, it said, will benefit thousands of tribals.
Naveen had inaugurated the bridge on July 26 that connected 151 villages "cut-off" from the mainland.
The inauguration of the bridge had hogged limelight as it was completed after three decades and provided connectivity to the Maoist hub.
A delegation of the BJP led led by its state president Basanta Kumar Panda met governor Ganeshi Lal on Friday and handed over a memorandum demanding CBI probe into the alleged irregularities.
Quoting a letter of the principal accountant general, Odisha, to the engineer-in-chief-cum-works secretary of the state government on July 25, the memorandum alleged that undue benefits of Rs 74.19 crore had been given to the contractors involved in constructing the bridge.
The BJP leaders said that the principal accountant general's audit report mentions a reply from the executive engineer of Malkangiri division.
Replying to an audit query the engineer had said that the estimates prepared according to specifications/ guidelines of the Union ministry of road transport and highways was not acceptable.
Pointing out that the bridge was located in the scheduled area, which is subject to control and administration of the governor, the delegation sought his intervention as the matter related to "fraud on the tribal people of Odisha".
"The governor is the custodian of the scheduled area under Article 244 read with the Fifth Schedule of the Constitution of India," said the memorandum. It urged the governor to direct the state government to hand over the matter to the CBI for "proper inquiry and independent probe". BJD leader Sasmit Patra refuted charges of irregularities and said the state government had handed over all the documents to the Centre.
