Chhindari Dam: A Reservoir of Corruption Exposed by Mission Sunday

A case of huge corruption has once again come to light in the name of promoting eco-tourism in Khairagarh, Chhattisgarh. The 'Mission Sunday' team, run under the direction of MLA Yashoda Nilambar Verma, inspected the Rani Rashmi Devi Singh reservoir located in Chhindari village on Sunday. The Forest Department had received approval of Rs 41 lakh to develop this reservoir as a tourist center, but the conditions here tell a different story.

During the inspection, the team found that most of the construction work is either incomplete or of very poor quality. Kitchen sheds, scaffolding, chairs and other seating arrangements have been made of very simple and weak materials, such as bamboo and cheap wood. It was clearly visible that not only negligence has been committed in the construction work but there has also been open misuse of government funds. The team also got information that the payment for these incomplete works has already been completed by the forest department.

The local villagers also expressed their displeasure before the team and said that the departmental officials have openly misused the government money. Only a show has been made in the name of development. The villagers alleged that the department showed the entire project as complete on paper without doing any ground work.

Mission Sunday convenor Manrakhan Devangan also raised a big question on the cost and quality of the project. He said that if an honest assessment is done, then this work should not have cost more than Rs 10 to 12 lakh, but the department has already shown an expenditure of more than Rs 14 lakh. He also alleged that a new NGO has been benefited by lakhs of rupees through fake quotations, which should be investigated impartially.

This case is not just the negligence of a project, but it shows how government schemes are not taken seriously at the ground level. If strict action is not taken on such cases in time, then public welfare schemes will continue to die on paper and people will continue to lose faith in the system.