Year after scam, no suppliers for flood relief

Flood relief is not something suppliers is Bihar want to risk this year. With stringent rules in place for monitoring relief procurement fol...

Flood relief is not something suppliers is Bihar want to risk this year. With stringent rules in place for monitoring relief procurement following the Express expose of the large-scale fraud in flood relief, suppliers are staying away. The Bihar government is yet to receive a single tender for supply of relief materials despite having advertised five times.

Last year, around the same time, former Patna DM Gautam Goswami and contractor Santosh Jha had their hands full with funds meant for relief which was siphoned off. Goswami, Jha and nine others are presently in jail.

‘‘We advertised five times, inviting tenders for supply of relief materials but no party turned up. Fortunately, floods haven’t hit Patna this time,’’ Patna DM B. Rajendra said.

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The secretary of Disaster Management, Alok Kumar Sinha, is tight-lipped. ‘‘Everything is being done in accordance with laid down rules and regulations and I have nothing to comment further,’’ was all he would say.

Last year, the Patna DM, acting as the nodal officer for relief operations in the state, was all-in-all in-charge and had powers to divert funds under other heads. Now, there is no nodal officer; each district has been asked to undertake relief measures on its own. In securing funds too, the rules have been changed. Now it is compulsory for the DM to get his demand for relief funds approved by the commissioner concerned. ‘‘Now, along with the DM, the commissioner too would be held responsible if any irregularity takes place,’’ said an official of the Relief Department.

	Flood situation ‘not alarming’, toll 36

			PATNA: Bihar Governor Buta Singh on Saturday said the overall flood situation in the state was ‘‘not alarming’’ though 36 people lost their lives in the recent floods. He was speaking to reporters after reviewing the overall flood and draught situation in Bihar at a high-level meeting with Chief Secy G.S. Kang and secretaries of all departments concerned. — PTI

The Raj Bhawan too has written to all districts, stressing strict checks in procurement of relief material — for instance, verifying quality and price of the material in the market and the credentials of the contractor. ‘‘Strict action would be taken against those found guilty of overlooking these guidelines,’’ the order said, according to an official in Motihari.

The clamp on relief is not restricted to Patna, however. In Saharsa, among the most vulnerable districts, too, no contractor has responded to the advertisements. ‘‘We advertised thrice but there was no response. Then, we got hold of a contractor supplying materials to the Navodaya Vidyalaya and finally, he agreed to help us out,’’ said ADM Ramroop Singh, in-charge of relief operations in Saharsa. In Bhagalpur too, advertisements were issued more than once but the response was received only for supplying polythene sheets.