The report of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India was tabled in the Odisha Assembly amid an uproar by the opposition BJD and Congress members on Saturday.
Odisha Assembly Speaker Surama Padhy adjourned the House till Monday following commotion by the Congress MLAs over the Adani issue during the presentation of the CAG report.
This Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India for the year ended 31 March 2022 has been prepared for submission to the Governor of the State of Odisha under Article 151 of the Constitution of India and under CAG’s DPC Act 1971.
This report contains results of a Performance Audit on Storm Water Drainage and Sewerage Management System by Municipal Corporations (MCs), in Odisha, which was conducted with the objectives to assess whether the planning of Storm Water drainage and Sewerage Management in MCs were effective, efficient and economical; and monitoring and evaluation of waste management system including adequacy of awareness creation, citizen engagement, for effecting behavioural change, assessment of environmental impacts and implementation of the internal control and monitoring mechanism was adequate and effective.
The audit has been conducted in conformity with the Auditing Standards issued by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India. This report contains six chapters. The important audit findings are listed below.
Chapter I Introduction:
- Chapter I deals with the challenges faced in the management of storm water drainage and sewerage systems in cities. It describes the geography and river basin drainage, of the State. It also describes the rainfall, water supply and storm water drainage network, in the Municipal Corporations. Moreover, it discusses the availability and adequacy of the organisational setup for management of storm water drainage and sewerage systems, along with devolution of urban governance and the role of Urban Local Bodies, in storm water drainage and sewerage systems.
Chapter II: Audit framework, scope and methodology:
- This chapter describes the broad objectives of the Performance Audit; sources of the audit criteria used; scope of audit; methodology adopted and the constraints faced, while conducting the Audit. Chapter III, IV, V and VI deal with the significant findings related to Storm Water Drainage and Sewerage Management System by Municipal Corporations (MCs), in Odisha.
Chapter III: Planning for collection/ conservation of storm water and construction of storm water drains and sewerage systems:
- This Chapter discusses the audit findings pertaining to planning and designing, for collection, conservation and construction of storm water drainage, and sewerage systems, in municipal corporation areas. The PA assesses, whether the planning and infrastructure, relating to the storm water drainage and sewerage systems, in municipal corporation areas, were adequate and effective and had been economically implemented by the MCs/ OWSSB/ WATCO.
- Due to absence of regulatory framework for management of Storm Water Drainage, Government of Odisha and Urban Local Bodies failed to comply with the National Disaster Management guidelines, which led to water logging and urban flooding.
- Significant measures to recharge ground water were not taken by Municipal Corporations despite depletion in ground water level.
- Rapid urbanisation has more impact on land use pattern of the cities, mostly on drains/ nallahs.
- Municipal Corporations did not prepare the master plan for storm water drainage management in cities, leading to water logging and urban flooding.
- Municipal Corporations did not provide adequate safety to commuters by covering the drains with slabs.
- Deficiencies in preparation of Detailed Project Report for sewerage projects, led to avoidable expenditure of 3,045.44 crore.
- The Daya West irrigation canal was virtually converted to a sewage waste drain and the contaminated water was being supplied for irrigation of 835 ha of agricultural land at downstream.
- Water at intake well of River Kuakhai for water supply to Bhubaneswar city was highly contaminated. The Biochemical Oxygen Demand, Total Coliform and Faecal Coliform were beyond the permissible limits.
Chapter-IV Financial Management:
This Chapter deals with the management of financial resources by the Municipal Corporations. MCs were largely dependent on Government grants, for undertaking their activities. Audit found that spending on storm water drainage and sewerage management had been minimal. Further, non-levy of cess and non-collection of user charges, had contributed to lower revenue generation of MCs.
- Under utilisation of funds for storm water drain and sewerage management by Municipal Corporations/ Odisha Water Supply and Sewerage Board due to absence of master plans.
- Exemption of GST and Service Tax for consultancy services, led to excess expenditure of 30.11 crore from the State exchequer.
- Municipal Corporations did not collect storm water drainage and sewerage charges from public, causing poor own revenue generation capacity to attain self-sustainability.
- Due to non-achievement of service level benchmarks and non-preparation of annual accounts, Urban Local Bodies did not get the central assistance of ₹333.58 crore under 14th Finance Commission grant.
Chapter-V Contract Management and Project Execution of storm water drainage and sewerage systems:
This Chapter deals with the challenges faced by the MCs, OWSSB, WATCO, BSCL and RSCL, in the execution of SWD and Sewerage Systems, in their respective jurisdictions. It also deals with the issue of whether the above authorities had executed these works economically, as per the State Schedule of Rates, Analysis of Rates, IRC Specifications, BIS standards and Manuals of Storm Water Drains and Sewerage Management.
- Award of work to non-performer and non-termination of contracts, led to time and cost overrun of nine years and 249.21 crore, respectively for Cuttack Drainage projects.
- Out of 558.64 Million Liter per Day sewerage waste generated in these five Municipal Corporations, only 52.97 Million Liter per Day (9.48 per cent) of the sewerage waste had been collected by the existing sewerage systems, leaving the remaining 505.67 Million Liter per Day (90.52 per cent) un-collected and had been discharged to water bodies causing water pollution.
- Non completion of sewerage projects, led to time and cost overrun of 12 years and 550.07 crore, respectively for Bhubaneswar sewerage districts I, II and III.
- There was excess payment of 5.11 crore for Rourkela West project in deviation to contract conditions and Odisha Public Works Department Code.
Chapter-VI Monitoring mechanism:
This Chapter deals with monitoring and evaluation of the management of storm water drains and sewerage systems, by the Corporations. It assesses whether the institutional mechanisms, for monitoring and implementation of storm water drains and sewerage systems in cities, were adequate and effective, for timely completion of projects and providing the desired outcomes to the public. The Chapter also tries to bring out the negative impact of the lack of management of storm water drains and sewerage systems, to the bio-diversity, affecting the environment and the populace.
- Non-conduct of regular meetings as required by State Level Steering Committee and Odisha Water Supply and Sewerage Board, for sewerage and storm water drainage management, resulted in lack of effective monitoring mechanism.
- There was lack of monitoring of sewerage projects to control pollution of water bodies and non-levy of environmental compensation of ₹1,239.00 crore by State Pollution Control Board.
- Water pollution/ water contamination pose threat to public health and ecosystems. Across the State, 42.24 lakh people were affected by acute diarrhoea, 4.63 lakh by typhoid, 0.12 lakh by hepatitis and 0.12 lakh by renal diseases during the FYs 2017-22, which were primarily caused due to water contamination.
- Consumption of leafy vegetables grown with polluted water irrigation is risky and harmful to human lives as it contains heavy amount of toxic elements of metals.