85 lakh flowers pots placed in Dense Forest of Shimla smacks deep rooted corruption

CPI(M) blamed Government and ruling Shimla Mincipal Corporation to make Shimla smartcity project (SCP) a den of corruption alleging that Rs 85 lakh flowers pots were placed in deep rooted forest in Shimla town without studing its survival rate and ignoring forestry science. This was alleged by the former Deputy Mayor Mr Tekinder Singh Panwar and party legal cell convenor Advocate Sanjeev Bhushan in a press conference held here today. Mr Bhushan stated that town was kept out of the Smartcity project by Former Virbhadra Singh Goverment when CPI(M) ruled the Shimla MC from 2012 to 2017. It was he who pleaded before the High court of Himachal Pradesh that eminent towns which has been erestwhile British capital was not included in the project fudging the data. Himachal Pradesh High court found the CPI(M) writ petition vaild and ordered the state and Centre to conduct fresh survey. He said that town got central government funding tunes to Rd 3500 Cr howerer present BJP government took charge of Shimla MC and state government after 2017 onwards virtual made this project den of corruption he said that each component of the project was amended to favour the contractor and middleman and town was converted from heritage to steel and concrete jungle. Mr Tekinder Singh Panwar said that they would knock the door of state Upayukta as Smart City is new areas of corruption . He said that so-called double engine Goverment was defecto mayors and state government didn’t implemented the policy document drafted during CPI(M) rule however it Shimla smart city smacks of deep – rooted corruption both at the political and administrative levels .  The city deliberately did not create a project monitoring unit ( PMU ) quintessential for carrying out the smart city plan proposals .  This unit which should have been qualified with planners, engineers and development sector experts was supposed to steer and help the SPV in the smart city plan execution.  Why was PMU not formed?  This question the government has to answer.  One of the reasons is that in the absence of the PMU the political assertion of the minister(urban development) and the officials take place directly and decide the spending of the money arbitrarily instead of going into the smart city proposals.  The current style of functioning has led to a split of work in the departments which has led to chaotic situations.  For example, massive corruption has taken place in public works.  The British period retaining walls were torn apart and instead reinforced cement and concrete walls were raised .  Each stone of the torn wall costs more than Rs 100 to 200 and nobody knows where gond missing or  how has been counted.  Likewise, massive money has been spent on the laying of flower pots in forest areas.  What is the reason for this ?  Who gets benefits?  The government must answer all this.  The split – up department works , and their DPRS never vet by the technical PMUS giving a solid foundation for corruption .  Whether such works were required or not, there is no clarity.  The mountain city has been converted into a steel city.  Is this what was required?  There is no basis for the cost of such projects undertaken under the plan which were not even placed in the SCP.  There is no convergence of city sanitation and city mobility plans as is seen from the works undertaken during the last five years of the municipal corporation .  SCP proposed six underground tunnels to bypass the congested traffic currently working on one tunnels however public money and Amrut missions projects of workd bank to develop mobility,  water supply and disposal of solid waste management was never seen light of the days. Mr Tekinder Singh Panwar said that greater water supply was handed over to a private companies under the control of state IPH department which was proposed to be under Shimla MC. He said that people of the town were being issued inflated water and sewerage bills. The supply of water is highly erratic and People were deprived from the basic amenities like water mobilities plan. He said that instead of deploying commuters vehicle which decongest traffic and easy mobilities of its citizens. Now inova vehicles which is more pollution prone and less occupancy have been purchased. He said that during last five years towns dud not move an inch to set up alternative transport system like ropeways and escalators which made the town more choatic and congested.

Thereare almost 13 departments that have an isolated approach and no proper monitoring of the work is done .  All of these smacks of deep – rooted design ensure heavy kickback to the ruling party cadres who are the main beneficiaries in the allotted public works .  Another major area is the Shimla water works that have now been converted into Shimla Jal Nigam.  The uplift of water from the Satluj River which should have started by now has still not been cleared .  The appointed contractor who is a close associate of the ruling party is seeking a revision of the contract from around Rs 323 crore to around Rs 500 crore .  Whose money is being spent ?  The variation of more than 50 per cent is nothing but a deep design to help the ruling party.  It is in this background that the Forum against corruption seeks an urgent inquiry into all the above – related scams , failing which it will be forced to knock at the Lokayukta .Of all the above projects , except one , none have even reached a preliminary stage . This was supposed to be a massive investment that should have helped the town ease traffic woes as well.  The redevelopment was another major area of ​​city development and here is the list of projects that were supposed to be completed within a given span of time.It is shocking to note that nothing has happened on all the items listed above , except for the draft proposal of the Shimla master plan ; which too is out of sync with the mountain requirements . No wonder the Shimla master plan was prepared by an Ahmedabad – based consultant with a copy – paste model of the plains . Meanwhile, the figures and the scope are illustrative of the fact that nearly nothing has happened in the city development aspect. Even if the area to redevelop- from Mall to Cart Road was struck aside by NGT, a new area should have been identified and work started. For the development of software and applications , a sum of Rs 614 crore was supposed to be spent . This was for hospital and health management , smart parking solutions , traffic management systems , public transport management systems etc. Neither the hospitals nor traffic management systems have been upgraded . The party said that right from conceiving of SCP the data was fudged and now it was made den of corruption against the ethose of project shows that Congress and BJP are hand un gloves to deprived the towns from its burning needs.