CAG said Mizoram govt wasted Rs 15 crore on ropeway project

Aizawl: The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India has said that the Mizoram government wasted Rs 200,000. 15.09 crore on installation of cable car or ropeway at Aizawl.
The CAG report tabled in the Assembly by Chief Minister Zoramthanga on February 16 said that the Union Ministry of Tourism had approved an expenditure of Rs 99.07 crore in March 2017 for the development of an eco-adventure circuit: Aizawl-Khawhpawp-Lengpui-Durtlang-Chaltlang-Sakawrhmuituaitlang-Muthee-Berawtlang-Tuirial Airfield- Hmuifang under the Eco Circuits theme of Swadesh Darshan Scheme.
It said the projects were to be completed and commissioned within 30 months.

It said that as per the approval order, the state government will take all necessary approvals before starting the projects and a monitoring committee headed by the tourism secretary should be set up to monitor the physical and financial progress of the projects.
A progress report should be submitted to the Ministry of Tourism on a quarterly basis.

The state government appointed a consultant for the development of the eco-adventure project in May 2017 and paid Rs. 2.97 crore as consultancy charges.

The consultant’s work includes site survey and site clearance, the report said.
The project components, including the cable car between Durtlang and Chaltlang, were completed by two firms through limited tenders in August/September 2017, the report said.

The project was to be completed by December 2018.
Mizoram Tourism Development Agency (MTDA) under the state tourism department had spent Rs. 15.09 crore during September 2007 to November 2018 for payment to contractors for installation of cable car from Durtlang to Chaltlang in Aizawl.
The CAG report said that the consultant did not mention in his detailed project report (DPR) that the proposed project would pass through three power transmission lines.

He said that he had not even submitted the feasibility report.
In a meeting held in September 2018 between the Department of Tourism and the representatives of the State Power and Electricity Department and the Power Grid Corporation, it was agreed that the proposed ropeway (cable car) project was not feasible and it should be moved from the planned site. And the place can be moved. .
The report said that the Union Ministry of Tourism observed in December 2019 that the work on the ropeway was started without obtaining necessary approvals and without carrying out a feasibility study.

To avoid further delays, the Center dropped the proposed cable car project worth Rs. 24.83 crores and asked the State Government to bear the expenditure on the same.
The Center also dropped all other components of the project worth Rs 200,000. 31. 14 crore in Durtlang area, the CAG report said.

The matter of the ropeway project between Durtlang and Chaltlang and the skywalk project at Sakawrhmuituaitlang near Durtlang is currently pending before the Aizawl Bench of the Guwahati High Court.
A fresh probe into the Ropeway-skywalk scam is likely to be initiated by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) after a probe by the state Anti-Corruption Bureau, an official said.

The Congress was in power in the state from December 2008 to November 2018.

However, no Congress leader and former tourism minister John Rotluangliana could be reached for comment.