According to an official at the Infrastructure Development Office, authorities allocating the budget for DPRs also assign the work themselves. \u201cHow would DPRs prepared solely to give someone employment come into implementation?\u201d the official says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Karna Bahadur Oli, member of CPN-UML\u2019s Karnali provincial committee, accuses that there\u2019s a \u2018syndicate\u2019 of Maoist cadres in all of Rukum\u2019s public offices. \u201cWhatever projects come to Rukum, they come straight from Janardan Sharma\u2019s phone,\u201d Oli says. \u201cIt is his cadres who are involved in those projects and who finish up the budget.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When CIJ contacted Sharma to talk about Oli\u2019s allegations, his personal assistant Lokendra Airi picked up the call and said it was not possible to talk to the ex minister as he was busy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Chief of Dailekh\u2019s Infrastructure Development Office Prabhakar Singh too says that ministers and parliamentarians provide the name of consultants themselves to prepare DPRs and feasibility studies. According to him, those who work on the projects are assigned by ministers themselves. Those who allocate the budget for the projects also allocate who would work on them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Kotila Lake construction is an ambitious project proposed in Panchakoshi, Dailekh. In 2077 BS, the Nepal Engineering and Management Association and Pashchimanchal JV started preparing DPR for the project that involved the construction of a lake sprawling over 54 hectare area and with a capacity of about 400 crore litre water. Loman Sharma, chair of Narayan Municipality, says that while the DPR was prepared, there was not enough budget for the project. \u201cThe local unit doesn\u2019t have sufficient budget while the federal and provincial governments do not care,\u201d Sharma says. \u201cWe have applied for budget with various agencies.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Meanwhile, Sandesh Kumar Shrestha, chair of Narayan Municipality\u2019s ward 1, says that when they asked for a budget with the ministry, technicians questioned the credibility of the DPR itself. \u201cAsked for budget to start work on the project, they say there are problems in the DPR,\u201d Shrestha says. \u201cWhen leaders devise projects to appease their cadres, this tends to be the result.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Between fiscal years 2076-77 and 2079-80, the Infrastructure Development Office, Dolpa has spent Rs 30 million and 15000 for DPRs. But nine of the projects with their DPR ready are yet to begin owing to lack of budget. In 2078 BS, as much as Rs 2.5 million was allocated to prepare DPRs for five projects, which are also yet to take off.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
DPR for a ropeway courts controversy<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The Kotwada-Manma cable car project was much-hyped during the tenure of chief minister Mahendra Bahadur Shahi. The DPR for this ropeway project, which would connect Naraharinath Municipality in Kalikot to Khadachakra Municipality, has also courted controversy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After a DPR prepared in 2078 BS at the cost of Rs 1 million 730 thousand was found to be substandard, a year was further extended for the new DPR, according to Ramchandra BC, chief of Infrastructure Development Office, Kalikot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The DPR should have been completed within five months of agreement but three years on, it still remains incomplete, hence the consultancy is given a year\u2019s extension, BC said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Gunaraj Dhakal, chief of the company assigned with the DPR job, the Kupondole-based Ropeway Nepal, however, says that even though they prepared DPR within the deadline, they haven\u2019t received the agreed amount for the work. \u201cWe have spent Rs 9 million for the work but we have gotten only Rs 800,000 so far,\u201d Dhakal says. \u201cWe haven\u2019t received the amount because we refused to pay the commission. We have already submitted the DPR.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n According to the Infrastructure Development Office in Kalikot, locals are facing problems because of a lack of bridge connecting Sani Triveni Rural Municipality and Raskot Municipality. But a DPR prepared for the bridge even before there was a road has remained shelved. According to the office, as many as 13 DPRs prepared in the past four months remain shelved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Nagendra Shahi, a local of Kalikot and UML central committee member, says that because selfish leaders haven\u2019t paid attention to local needs, the budget is being misused.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhile there aren\u2019t even horseways in the villages, leaders propose ropeway projects,\u201d Shahi says. \u201cIn villages, people face problems for lack of even the basic medication but leaders talk about tunnel ways.\u201d Shahi further alleged that government officials are often involved in making DPRs haphazardly and shelving them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The provincial government had disbursed as much as Rs 120 million for DPRs of various projects in fiscal year 2076-77 BS. In 2078-79, it had disbursed Rs 48 million 400 thousand and Rs 21.5 million in 2079-80. But it doesn\u2019t have a record of how many of these DPRs went into implementation and how many were shelved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Chief Minister Mahendra Bahadur Shahi says that while DPRs were done for projects not included in the red book, the budget was disbursed for such projects. \u201cMinistries might have done DPRs on their own without any study, that\u2019s why they remain shelved,\u201d Shahi says. \u201cNo illicit work has been done in my tenure.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Work against law<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n In Karnali, it has been found that a single office has allowed DPR work repeatedly in a single year. But according to the public procurement act, a single office can only assign work for a company once in a year. But the provincial government has repeatedly assigned DPR work for a single company through RFP (request for proposal).<\/p>\n\n\n\n According to clause 85 (1) of the public procurement act, the government cannot purchase goods or receive services from a single company repeatedly in a single year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Chandra Rana of Jajarkot\u2019s Shivalaya Rural Municipality has three consultancy companies\u2014Move Engineering Consultancy and Research, Surkhet; Moon Engineering Consultancy and Research, Surkhet; and Aarambha Engineering Consultancy, Lalitpur.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The first is registered under the name of Chandra\u2019s younger brother Keshav while Aarambha is registered under his friend\u2019s name.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Chandra has taken responsibility for 10 DPRs within four years from the Infrastructure Development Office, Jajarkot using three forms. Of the 27 DPRs carried out in the period, 10 were assigned to Chandra\u2019s companies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Chandra seems to have received the work directly during the tenure of then chief minister Mahendra Bahadur Shahi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Likewise, in Dolpa, Salyan, Kalikot, Mugu, and Jumla, too, a single company has received up to 10 assignments for DPR from a single office in four years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Chief of the Infrastructure Office, Sohindar Yadav, says that since Chandra is a local, he might have been prioritised. \u201cThe chief before me tended to assign work to him, but I have distributed work to others too,\u201d Yadav says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Yadav adds that ministry officials and political leaders pressurise them to assign DPR work to companies of their favour, hence quality has taken a back seat. \u201cThe company officials cite the chief minister and infrastructure minister\u2019s names, hence we are compelled to oblige.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The infrastructure office in Rukum West in 2077-78 assigned Civil Work Consultancy for DPR work in Nuwakot-Timile road and Sanakhola bridge. Likewise, Five Star Engineering Consultancy received assignment for Jaharikhola-Barmathan bridge in 2078-79 and MK Consultant and Construction received assignment for DPR for Tilchakhola bridge in Kathmandu. All these DPRs, however, were prepared without abiding by law and are currently shelved, with no progress on projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In Rukum, DPR work was assigned to Civil Work Consultancy for Deutakhola bridge and Nuwakot-Timile road in 2077-78 BS. A year later, the same company was assigned DPR for three other projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Likewise, PS Engineering Consultants has also done two DPR works in 2077 BS. Applied Engineering PVT LTD has done DPR for two roads in 2078 BS, as assigned by the infrastructure office, Salyan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Of the 38 DPRs that the Salyan infrastructure office has prepared in the past four years, work is yet to begin in 10 projects for lack of a budget. Prabin Karki, former chief of Jajarkot infrastructure office and information officer at ministry of infrastructure, says, \u201cPoliticians ask officials to start DPR work with the promise they\u2019d help manage the budget, but many such projects haven\u2019t been implemented.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Bishnu Bhandari, secretary of Karnali provincial ministry of infrastructure and urban development, says it is a matter of investigation how a single company was assigned DPR more than once in a single year. \u201cThis is against law,\u201d he says. \u201cA heavy sum seems to have been invested in DPRs but only a few of them have gone into implementation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Deputy chair of provincial planning commission, Yogendra Shahi, says that the ministry concerned hasn\u2019t prioritised projects recommended by the commission in the past four years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe government didn\u2019t pay attention to big projects. It instead began to spend Rs 1 million in DPR for projects worth Rs 2 million,\u201d Shahi says. \u201cThere is a different story about projects conceived at the behest of middlemen and their DPRs.\u201d He adds that in Karnali, DPR is synonymous with a lucrative deal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Shahi says that the provincial government should pay special attention while selecting projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe government has been unable to monitor why DPRs were prepared and why they were not implemented,\u201d he said. \u201cThe projects should have benefitted the whole region but they have benefited only the politicians and their cadres.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The article first appeared in Centre for Investigative Journalism, Nepal<\/em><\/strong>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Among these shelved DPRs in Salyan, Rukum West, Kalikot and Jajarkot districts, most were prepared during the tenure of then finance minister Janardan Sharma and then chief minister of Karnali province Mahendra Bahadur Shahi.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":360,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_show_updated_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[60],"tags":[87,88],"class_list":["post-359","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-case-files","tag-dpr","tag-karnali","entry"],"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/aheval.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/dpr-1-1024x655.jpg\")
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