Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Council K S Eshwarappa on Monday filed a complaint with the Lokayukta in connection with the alleged irregularities in the Upper Tunga project in Shivamogga district.
In-charge Registrar of the Lokayukta M S Balakrishna said a Lokayukta police officer had been directed to visit the spot immediately and verify certain vital information provided in the complaint.
Sources said Eshwarappa, along with his party colleagues S Suresh Kumar and Ayanuru Manjunath, visited the Lokayukta office at around 12 noon and the formalities of filing the complaint went on till 3.45 pm. A senior Lokayukta officer said certain documents pertaining to the complaint had to be verified since “glaring violations” were found in the project.
Eshwarappa said Rs 128 crore worth of modernisation work of the Upper Tunga canal was in violation of the tendering process. One of the main allegations of Eshwarappa is that the work in one of the canals had been entrusted to Ramalingam Construction Company, which had started the project even before the tendering process was completed.
The complaint stated that the company had completed almost 25 per cent of the work before the finalisation of the tender process. The complaint has been filed against chief engineer A S Patil, superintendent engineer Yatishchandra and executive engineer N Hanumanthachar.
The BJP leaders had to wait for over three hours in the in-charge registrar’s chamber. Though sources said Upalokayukta Justice Subhash B Adi refused to take up the complaint since it was against a chief engineer, who came under the jurisdiction of the Lokayukta. However, in-charge Registrar Balakrishna said the complaint had been registered under the jurisdiction of Justice Adi.
Verification
“The verification of the complaint took a lot of time. Moreover, the complaint could not have been registered at the complaint section since there were some vital information which had to be immediately looked into. Hence, an officer from the Lokayukta police has been asked to visit the particular spot to verify the information provided. Further details of the complaint will be made known after a couple of days,” Balakrishna said.
