CAG to probe Narmada corruption issue: NBA

Bhopal, July 1: Narmada Bachao Andolan today claimed the Comptroller and Auditor General of India has promised to inquire into the alleged corruption in disbursement of compensation to the families affected by the Sardar Sarovar Project on the Narmada river.

''CAG A N Bajaj held out the assurance when an NBA delegation met him recently,'' delegation member and Samajwadi Party MLA Dr Sunilam told reporters here. The inquiry report will be presented in the Madhya Pradesh Assembly, he said.

Dr Sunilam said the delegation apprised the CAG about various corrupt practices' in compensation payment through middlemen in Manawar 'tahsil' of Dhar district. 'In Ganguly village alone, a huge amount was misappropriated showing compensation payment to 51 ineligible people'', he said.

Alleging misappropriatioin of at least Rs 100 crore in rehabilitation works, the SP leader demanded a CBI probe into it.

Even the Supreme Court has been misled about resettlement and rehabilitation, he claimed, adding the Shunglu Committee, which looked into the rehabilitation work, had also ignored the 'corruption aspect.' About 35,000 families living in the submergence area could have been provided relief before monsoon if the government acted on the report of three union ministers who visited the area and also Ms Jamuna Devi, leader of the opposition in the Madhya Pradesh Assembly, he added.

UNI