Dharna over alleged PMGSY fund mismanagement

LIKABALI, 5 Mar: Local residents, along with members of student unions and youth organisations staged a dharna on the premises of the deputy commissioner’s office here in Lower Siang district on Monday over alleged mismanagement of PMGSY fund.

The protestors have alleged that fund to the tune of Rs 155 crore for the “Likabali BRO road to Durpai village” under the PMGSY has been mismanaged.

They submitted a memorandum to the DC, requesting him to “forward the issue to the state government, in order to initiate a chief minister-level inquiry into the mismanagement of public fund and corruption in the PMGSY project.”

Claiming that the Rs 155-crore PMGSY road project, which was completed in 2022, was executed without following the

PMGSY specifications and guidelines, the protestors said, “A major bridge at Ngopi village has been left partially constructed, and the embankment of the road has not been executed properly, triggering heavy waterlogging and damages during the monsoon season.”

“Movement for quality road started since inception and a local monitoring committee was formed to monitor the project, but failed to monitor the execution till the end, due to which the project failed. Having no option left, we individually appealed for quality road, and finally a series of public movement started in the form of representations and through electronic media against substandard work under the PMGSY project. But still no development sighted in the project so far,” the protestors said in the memorandum.