Take criminal action against CE, SE, & EE..!

1. State Vigilance Commission recommends action to the state government on corruption in the Manair construction
2. Vigilance holds the then three engineers responsible for corruption and irregularities in the constructionMisuse of public funds to the tune of about Rs 240 crore 

metro india news  I hyderabad

The State Vigilance Commission has sent a report to the state government recommending that the then Chief Engineer (CE) Anil Kumar, Superintending Engineer (SE) Srikant Rao, and Executive Engineer (EE) Ashok Kumar, who worked on the Mid Manair project at the time, are fully responsible for the corruption, irregularities, and malpractices that occurred in the project, and that criminal action should be taken against them.Based on a complaint received about the Mid Manair irregularities, officials of the Vigilance and Enforcement Department,

who conducted a field-level inquiry, stated that public funds to the tune of about Rs 240 crore had been misused. They submitted a report to the Vigilance Commission recommending criminal action against the engineers who were serving as CE, SE, and EE at the time these irregularities took place.  Reliable information indicates that the Commission, after examining this, sent the recommendations to the government in the fourth week of July—about 11 months later.Complaint in Prajavani…The construction of the Mid Manair Reservoir was taken up about a decade ago in the undivided Karimnagar district. A local leader filed a complaint at Prajavani in Hyderabad, stating that irregularities and malpractices had occurred during the construction, resulting in the waste of crores of rupees of public money. 

The complaint requested an inquiry by the Vigilance and Enforcement Department so that all the facts would come to light. It included details related to the corruption, irregularities, and malpractices in the Mid Manair construction.After examining the complaint, Planning Commission Vice-Chairman G. Chinnareddy recommended an inquiry and forwarded it to the Vigilance and Enforcement Department.

Following this, Vigilance Department officials conducted a thorough investigation. They visited the Mid Manair Reservoir at the field level, inspected the works carried out there, and collected extensive evidence.Behind the washing away of Mid Manair… The Vigilance Department’s inquiry revealed that the seeds of irregularities and malpractices were sown right from the beginning of the Mid Manair construction. 

The Vigilance found that corruption began when, solely to award works to a benami of a key leader in the then government, the contracting firm that was carrying out the reservoir construction works was set aside, the entire contract was cancelled, and half the work was awarded to another contracting firm. Information indicates that the then CE, SE, and EE played a key role in this.

In addition, even after half the works were awarded to another contracting firm, the engineering officials failed to supervise the works being carried out by the two contracting firms in parallel and acted negligently (like watering a lemon tree), which led to the Mid Manair bund being washed away at that time, according to the Vigilance inquiry. At the time, it was widely publicized that the Mid Manair was washed away due to heavy floods from upstream. 

However, the Vigilance inquiry established that it was washed away because the two contracting firms did not carry out the works in parallel and because the engineering officials failed to properly coordinate them and acted negligently.As part of the inquiry, Vigilance Department officials examined photographs and videos taken while the Mid Manair construction works were underway, and also collected samples of the materials and soil used at that time. They identified where rules were violated during construction and who was responsible. Overall, the Vigilance inquiry found that public funds amounting to about Rs 240 crore had been misused.Retired engineers…

The Vigilance Department’s report recommended that CE Anil Kumar, SE Srikant Rao, and EE Ashok Kumar—who held key responsibilities during the construction of the Mid Manair project—are fully responsible and that criminal action should be taken against them. After examining this, the Vigilance Commission forwarded the same recommendation to the government.Anil Kumar served as CE during the Mid Manair construction. He was later promoted as Engineer-in-Chief (ENC). The complaint regarding Mid Manair was received around that time. In this background, while the Vigilance inquiry into Mid Manair was underway, the then ENC Anil Kumar made several departmental transfers in a manner that could obstruct the Vigilance inquiry. 

Allegations were also raised at the time that through these transfers he attempted to ensure the Mid Manair inquiry (from his time as CE) proceeded in his favour. This reportedly led to an exchange of letters (letter war) between the Principal Secretary of the Irrigation Department and the then Vigilance DG Kottakotta Srinivasa Reddy, which was also discussed within the Irrigation Department. Later, Anil Kumar was removed from the ENC post and posted elsewhere just before his retirement.Srikant Rao and Ashok Kumar, who served as SE and EE during the Mid Manair construction, also retired some time ago. 

Since these three engineers held key responsibilities in the Mid Manair irregularities case, it remains to be seen whether the government will take criminal action against the three now-retired individuals or not.The latest report from the Vigilance Commission will reach the Chief Secretary through the Principal Secretary of the Irrigation Department, then the Irrigation Minister, and finally the Chief Minister. The possibility of criminal action against those responsible depends on the decision taken on these recommendations at the Chief Minister’s level.