GULBARGA: All is not well in the Gulbarga City Corporation with the administration caught in a web of controversies and allegations of misappropriation of funds sanctioned by the Government for improving basic amenities and water supply in the city with a population of around five lakhs.

An amount of Rs. 10 crores was released under the Chief Minister's Special Package and the State Finance Commission funds for improving roads and drainage. However, Deputy Commissioner Anjum Parvez, who inspected some of the roadworks, expressed dissatisfaction over the quality of work. He had directed Corporation Commissioner S.P. Mudhol to blacklist those contractors who had executed substandard work.

Mr. Parvez had also directed that all works executed by the city corporation should be inspected by an independent agency before the final bills were cleared. However, no information is available on whether the directions of the Deputy Commissioner have been followed.

The corporation is also facing a new charge of misappropriation of funds provided for tackling drinking water shortage.

The State Government released Rs. 1.37 crores last year to tackle water shortage in Gulbarga city from April to June 2005. The claim of the corporation is that it incurred an expenditure of Rs. 1.3 crores to provide drinking water to the people of Gulbarga city for three months.

According to details provided by the corporation, the officials in charge of supplying drinking water through tankers had spent, on an average, Rs. 1.17 lakhs every day during the 120 days. The corporation paid Rs. 250 to the contractors operating tankers for every trip. To spend Rs. 1.17 lakhs a day on this account, corporation officials should have ensured over 450 trips by the tankers every day.

Even if water supply through tankers had been maintained for 24 hours, corporation officials should have ensured 20 trips every hour and at least one trip by a tanker every three minutes. Corporation officials were reluctant to provide details of the trips. Their claims that they supplied water through tankers to the areas not covered under the existing drinking water supply schemes also appears to be incorrect. According to official records, they used the money for supplying water through tankers in the Aiwan-e-Shahi locality, which is covered by the existing drinking water supply scheme and localities such as Brahmpur, Station Bazaar and Vidya Nagar, which are also connected to the drinking water supply scheme.

There is no information with the corporation on the number of tankers available in the city and how many were put to use last summer.

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