PORVORIM: Alleging a scam to the tune of Rs 145 crore originating in 2016, in the “failed” aerial bunch cabling (ABC) project of the State Electricity department, MLAs from the treasury, as well as the opposition bench on Tuesday demanded that the government should investigate the scam and fix the responsibility.
The ABC project was envisaged and implemented by the electricity department to address the issue of frequent power cuts and provide a stable power supply particularly in rural Goa where the work of the underground cabling system couldn’t be undertaken. However, the said project has not yielded any results and in fact, added to the cup of woes of the department.
Speaking during a calling attention notice in the State Legislative Assembly on frequent power outages, Calangute MLA Michael Lobo said, “Public money has gone down the drain. Rs 145 crore is not a small amount. In my constituency, every day we experience power cuts 30 times. We need a specific answer from the Power Minister whether he is going to set up a House committee on this, or whether he is going to investigate in a time-bound manner.”
Though his name wasn’t mentioned in the Hose specifically the Power minister during that time was BJP MLA Milind Naik, Mormugao MLA Sankalp Amonkar demanded the government must come clean on the scam and asked the current Power Minister Ramkrishna ‘Sudin’ Dhavalikar to name the people involved in it, and said that if Dhavalikar doesn’t name the culprits then he should take the responsibility.
“ABC project has failed miserably; it’s a scam worth Rs 145 crore. Who is responsible for this scam? Is the current Power Minister taking responsibility? Under whose tenure this scam was done? Who was the minister then? Who were the Chief Engineer and the power secretary? I demand that their names be disclosed or else the current minister should take responsibility for the scam in his department,” Amonkar said.
Leader of Opposition Yuri Alemao also demanded the government initiate a thorough probe into the alleged scam.
Replying to allegations, Power Minister Sudin Dhavalikar admitted that the ABC project has proved to be a “disaster” for the State. However, he stated that Chief Minister Pramod
Sawant should take a call on initiating an inquiry into the allegations levelled by the MLAs.
“ABC (project) is a disaster. Let the House and the Chief Minister decide what needs to be done now. The project was undertaken somewhere in 2016. At that time I wasn’t there, Nilesh Cabral was also not holding charge of the Power portfolio, and also Pramod Sawant was not at the helm of the affairs. If you want an inquiry then let the House decide, I am ready,” Dhavalikar said.
“What has happened is not right as public money was utilised for the ABC project. This project is about 1,000 km, a total of around 731.66 km of the cable was laid and out of which 498.68 km was initially charged and only 245 km is working, just imagine how big this disaster is,” the Power Minister added.
MLA Sankalp Amonkar sought to know the name of the Minister under whose tenure the project was approved and implemented, replying to which Dhavalikar said, “He is from your constituency. He is from Mormugao. As per the rules, I can’t take his name as he is not in the House now. But you all know.”
