Vadodara: The casual manner in which the Vadodara Municipal Corporation (VMC) was managing the Harni Lake Zone project became evident from the process of handing over charges from one department or official to another over the years. Different departments were supervising the project even as the project files never moved. Fourteen people, including 12 students and two teachers from the same school, died after an overloaded boat capsized on Jan 18.
Besides lapses in project supervision and ensuring proper safety measures at the lake zone, an inquiry conducted by the VMC found executive engineer Rajesh Chauhan guilty. It recommended action against Chauhan, and the matter was put up before the general board. The note prepared for the general board, which comprises the elected representatives of VMC, reveals that in 2019, operations and maintenance of the project were handed over to the east zone office.
Before this, the futuristic planning cell of VMC was managing the affairs. The note reveals that in June 2022, the land and estate (commercial) department was handed over the project. According to details of the inquiry mentioned in the note, it has come to light that records of the project were never passed on to the relevant officials or departments when the charges were handed over.
While the general board was to take up the matter for discussion last month, it has not done so yet. The board meetings have been postponed due to the demise of elected representatives and others, so the decision regarding Chauhan is being delayed. Inquiries against two other officials – in-charge executive engineer Paresh Patel and additional assistant engineer Jigar Sayaniya – had been completed.
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