ACAUT Nagaland alleges corruption in ‘abandoned’ Doyang bridge project

Alleging corruption in the incomplete RCC Bridge over Doyang river in Wokha district under Nagaland Foot Hill Road (NFHR) project, ACAUT Nagaland Monday claimed that the executive engineer (R&B) Dimapur division made payments to the contractor to the tune of Rs.18.49 crore (75% of work order amount). 

ACAUT through its media cell said that Lotha Hoho and ACAUT Unit Wokha carried out physical inspection on September 11, 2019 and found out that only 25-30 percent of the work was complete although the target date of completion and commissioning of the bridge was over by one full year.

ACAUT said the executive engineer (R&B) Dimapur division instead of ensuring completion of the work had made payments, which it claimed amounts to fraudulent payment.

Further, ACAUT claimed that as per the RTI the executive engineer had falsely claimed that 75% of the work has been completed.

According to ACAUT, the Lotha Hoho informed that the contractor was issued the work order by the chief engineer, PWD (R& B), Nagaland on March 15, 2014 and a revised work order was issued on November 21, 2014 for construction of the RCC Bridge. The work order amount was Rs.24, 52, 20,000 (Rupees twenty four crore fifty two lakhs twenty thousand), it stated.

It said the Hoho brought up the matter during the ‘Colloquium on Road Connectivity,’ convened by the Nagaland Government on October 10. At the meeting, ACAUT said the R&B chief engineer had revealed that the work was abandoned.

In this regard, ACAUT has asked the department to clarify the chief engineer’s statement.

It also demanded that the state government immediately suspend the responsible EE (R&B) and blacklist the firm.

Further, ACAUT demanded that SIT should complete its report and that government initiate befitting action within one month failing which ACAUT along with all aggrieved stakeholders would initiate a sustained plan of action.