Smart Village plan mired in graft charge

New village envisaged for tribespeople of Vattavada estimated to cost ₹12 crore

The proposed Vattavada Smart Village project aimed at creating a new village for the tribespeople of Vattavada has landed in a controversy over alleged corruption in the works and environmental concerns.

The project, envisaged in 2018, was estimated to cost ₹12 crore. In the first phase, 108 backward families in Vattavada was to be included the project. After corruption charges surfaced, an inquiry was conducted by the Revenue Department. A report submitted by Devikulam Subcollector S. Premkrishnan to District Collector H. Dinesan said a detailed inquiry should be conducted into the corruption charges.

In 18 months

The project, announced by the grama panchayat in July 2018, was scheduled to be completed in 18 months. After more than a year, only the mud removal works have been completed. Also, encroachment of government land has been alleged under the cover of the project.

Subcollector’s report

The report submitted by the Subcollector said the project was planned on a panchayat-owned 1.75 acres of land in the resurvey number 84 of block number 60. However, a report by the village officer said the panchayat had encroached on 1.50 acres of government land in the resurvey number 322 of block number 60. A detailed probe was needed into the illegal encroachment of the government land, according to the report. The report said that as per the panchayat estimate, ₹80 lakh was used for removing mud and for road construction works for the model village project. However, as per the valuation by the village officer, the cost could have been ₹5 lakh to ₹10 lakh only.

Trigger for probe

Suspicion was raised when the grama panchayat sought permission for blasting rocks in 20 cents of land for the project. A verification by the Revenue Department led to the inquiry into the corruption charges, according to the sources.

Eco concerns

The report submitted by the Subcollector recommended that environmental issues caused by the project be probed. It also suggested a probe by an expert agency into corruption in the works already taken up.