Barangpur: The state government has approved crores of rupees to excavate new ponds in the inter-state area to conserve extra water, provide sweet water for agricultural use, and generate additional income and employment. It was hoped this would also solve water scarcity for villagers. However, many ponds under various schemes were dug, but the water problems remain unresolved. Villagers allege that despite government funds being allocated for pond excavation, the entire amount was misappropriated by simply giving out fake names and without actual work being done.
A glaring example comes from Javaguda village in Tamra Panchayat of Jharigaon block, Nabarangpur district. In the financial year 2019-20, a pond excavation project worth approximately 10 million rupees was approved. In 2020, a new pond was dug in Javaguda, with expenditures shown on the MNREGA website as about 7,17,669 rupees, involving 554 workers.
Despite the heavy spending, the villagers say the work was not done properly. Instead of real labor, only the names of laborers were used, and money was siphoned off. Soil was dug superficially by a JCB machine, but no actual pond excavation took place. It appears only paper work was done to embezzle the funds.
Due to the lack of proper excavation, these ponds do not retain water during the rainy season. As a result, villagers have resorted to planting paddy inside the empty ponds, since the land remains exposed and water does not accumulate. Earlier, the family of Hero Santa used to cultivate in this area, but after the pond excavation began, the land became unusable for water retention. The villagers say that despite digging soil manually for weeks, the work was abruptly stopped and only after two years, JCB machines dug 3 to 4 feet of soil superficially again.
The MNREGA website shows that work began in 2020, but the wages worth about 7 lakhs were withdrawn in the names of laborers without actual work being done. There are serious allegations that officials took money from the laborers’ accounts by taking their fingerprint prints and withdrawing funds illegally.
This has raised strong suspicion of corruption in pond excavation projects. Villagers have accused the concerned departmental officials of embezzlement and demanded a strict investigation. When asked, the block official Madhusudan Majhi said he was unaware of any such complaints. However, he assured that if such wrongdoing is found, strict action will be taken.
This pond excavation scam has caused an uproar among intellectuals and social activists, who say that corrupt departmental officials might be involved in the fraud. The demand is for a thorough investigation and appropriate punishment for those responsible.