A couple of days after a report of CAG detected massive irregularities in the State Forest Department, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Thursday alleged rampant corruption in the Works, and the Water Resources departments.
Addressing a presser, the State BJP vice-president Bhrugu Baxipatra alleged that more than 3000 reports are pending for settlement since 1984, but the Odisha government continues to spend more from the State exchequer without auditing the pending settlements.
"The CAG report revealed that the BJD government has no vision to make Odisha a leading State. A total of 3,473 reports are pending for settlement from June 1984 to 2020. And, due to this, Rs 1610 crore corruption has surfaced in Forest, Public Works and Water Resources departments," the BJP leader alleged.
He further alleged that Rs 225 crore has been diverted from the Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA) fund, which is in violation of the guidelines.
The State government is also yet to submit Utilisation Certificates (UC) of Rs 36,000 crore of at least 10 departments to the Centre but continues to accuse the Central government of neglecting the State, said Baxipatra.
"Odisha has failed to carry out plantation activities with the unfruitful expenditure of Rs 68.36 lakh. It's painful that corruption remains the biggest hurdle in the path of building a 'New Odisha,'" he added.
Commenting on the allegations, BJD MLA Prashant Muduli said, “If a CAG report has come, there is a committee which will review the report and enquiry may be conducted if deemed necessary at all.”