AAP MLA from Sangam Vihar constituency Dinesh Mohaniya. (Facebook photo/Files)
Days after it emerged that the Delhi Assembly’s Estimates Committee, headed by AAP MLA Dinesh Mohaniya, is probing alleged irregularities amounting to Rs 776.7 crore in three Delhi Jal Board projects, the DJB claimed all three projects were approved by a board of which Mohaniya is vice-chairperson.
The mandate of the Committee on Estimates, chaired by Mohaniya, is to examine the details and technical aspects of the estimates of various departments for better financial control of the House over the expenditure by the Executive.
“As the vice-chairperson of the DJB, Mohaniya was privy to the entire approval process for the three projects… He has been vice-chairperson of the DJB since July, 2015,” said a DJB official. Mohaniya said he cannot comment on matters pertaining to the Assembly committee.
The Delhi Assembly panel has been probing alleged irregularities in three projects set up to clean the Najafgarh and supplementary drains under Phase-1 of the ‘Maily se nirmal Yamuna revitalisation plan 2017’, taken up after directions from the National Green Tribunal (NGT) in 2015.
Sources in the panel claim that at the time the project — comprising 14 sewerage treatment plants (STPs) — was given clearance, it was to be funded by the Centre’s National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG). But later, sources said, it was decided that the Delhi government would fund seven STPs. DJB officials, sources claim, have not been able to show documents for this decision — a charge the DJB has denied.
The Indian Express has learnt that the work order for the projects — dated May 31, 2017 — states that the board considered the proposal on August 28, 2016 and resolved in its 128th meeting dated August 29, 2016… to award the work in favour of a company that had won the tender at a total cost of Rs 776.7 crore with funding from NMCG.
It is also learnt that an NGT order on March 14, 2017 had confirmed that seven STPs were approved by the Ministry of Water Resources, and would be financed by the NMCG.
The NGT also ordered that in relation to remaining seven projects of STPs, the Delhi Jal Board shall commence its work without any further delay from its own budget, it is learnt. Consequently, LOIs (Letters of Intent) were issued on April 21, 2017 after seeking in-principle approval of CEO DJB, it is learnt.
However, there are no documents to explain the changed pattern of funding, a source in the Assembly committee claimed.
The DJB, however, maintained that the allegation was baseless since the entire matter was monitored by the NGT and that this included the pattern of funding.
