Tainted PWD engineers earned heavily from major blacktopping frauds in some divisions of Rajouri district

Tainted PWD engineers earned heavily from major blacktopping frauds in some divisions of Rajouri district

POONCH TODAY NEWS

POONCH/ RAJOURI: A few PWD engineers, with the full support of their seniors, have perpetrated many frauds related to the blacktopping of roads at various places in the PWD divisions of Rajouri and Poonch districts that are under the radar of anti-graft agencies. Without laboratory testing, roads were paved with poor-quality bitumen at various places. Therefore, the tainted officials in question completely violated government orders on proper laboratory testing of bitumen for macadamization of roads. The high-profile engineers, with the full support of seniors in the department, did this blacktopping fraud continuously and earned huge amounts through illegal means. Highly placed sources within the PWD department in the Rajouri division, pleading anonymity, told “POONCH TODAY” that the same engineers were involved in scripting many frauds from various high-profile works and looted government money like anything on fake withdrawals. Although many attempts were made to transfer them, behind the curtains, they managed everything. Sources also said that the top officers protected those tainted engineers who preferred to remain hand in glove with them, and as a result, many tainted engineers enjoyed the choicest postings at important divisions and subdivisions. Even in the Nowshera division, a powerful PWD engineer oversaw everything for years and looted the government exchequer through fraudulent withdrawals on various works, but when RTI applicants approached the office of XEn PWD Nowshera, the transparency act was repeatedly violated, fearing exposure to massive fraud. A high-level inquiry is needed from the government to see how many PWD engineers played foul in various divisions of the Rajouri and Poonch districts under various schemes, especially from black topping-related works.