Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change and Labour and Employment Bhupender Yadav inaugurated the Public Park cum Botanical Garden during his visit to the district on August 24, 2023. (File Photo: @byadavbjp/X)
Moa Jamir
Dimapur | September 9
On the heels of the recent controversy over the location of a multipurpose hall, another government-funded project now raises questions over the land on which it was built.
A Rs 2.87 crore botanical garden at Jalukie conceived for ex-situ conservation or ‘conserving components of biodiversity outside their natural habitats’, has itself become an unlikely case of being “unnatural.”
The project was built on land privately owned by the contractor and has been lying idle for the last two years, according to the compliance audit report of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG), tabled in the State Assembly on September 3.
The Project
As per the CAG, the “Creation of Botanical Garden-cum-Recreational Park at Jalukie, Peren” project was approved by the North Eastern Council (NEC) in April 2017 at a cost of Rs 2.87 crore, with the Union and State sharing the cost in a 90:10 ratio. It was to be completed within two years, by March 2019.
The objectives of the project were to promote recreational facilities, ex-situ conservation and multiplication of threatened and endemic plants, rehabilitate natural and endangered germplasm, promote eco-tourism, and improve the economy through generation of revenue and employment.
The NEC-approved Detailed Project Report (DPR) envisaged facilities including a reception, amphitheatre, watch tower, gazebo, laboratory, fencing, retaining wall, quarters, public toilet, septic tank, greenhouse, park and horticultural works.
It further envisaged availability of the project land, with the intended beneficiaries willing to donate it to the State Government.
The project works commenced in August 2017 and were completed only in July 2022, against the original December 2018 completion schedule, and the entire Rs 2.87 crore was paid to the contractor.
However, it took a different route than originally intended.
The detour
As per the CAG, the Director, Horticulture Department, did not submit valid land documents to the NEC establishing the State’s ownership or possession of the proposed project site. However, the NEC sanctioned the project and released its share based on the assurance in the DPR regarding availability of land.
In December 2017, the Department entered into a bipartite Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the contractor, providing a 32-hectare piece of land owned by the contractor for implementation of the project.
However, the Department had not obtained prior concurrence of the Finance Department before signing the MoU, contrary to government instructions.
Among others, it allowed the contractor-cum-landowner to retain ownership of the land while owning, operating and managing the park, including sole rights over income-generating activities and the income generated.
This was a clear violation of the NEC guidelines regarding ownership or possession of the project land by the State Government through execution of a long-term lease agreement with the landowner, the CAG said.
The audit also found that unauthorised works, including a guest house, swimming pool and gate were executed, in deviation from the NEC-approved DPR.
To regularise these deviations, the Department submitted a revised DPR in May 2022, retaining the project cost at Rs 2.87 crore, but omitting several originally approved components, including the reception, laboratory, park, public toilet and horticultural works, it added.
The revised DPR was approved by the State Government but was not forwarded to the NEC for concurrence or approval.
The CAG concluded that the facts were indicative of “undue favour to the contractor-cum-landowner, with Rs 2.87 crore in project assets created on private land and works deviating from the approved DPR without NEC concurrence and violates guidelines.
State’s reply and recommendations
The CAG noted that the State Government initially accepted the audit observations in April 2024 and assured that the MoU would be suitably rectified.
In July 2024, the Department said the land had been surveyed, a Deed of Land Donation executed in June, and the facility would be leased to interested parties generate revenue.
The CAG, however, deemed the reply ‘not acceptable’, as the Deed of Land Donation lacked essential details, including the survey number, dimensions and area needed to establish ownership in the Department’s favour.
Further, the mutation of the donated land was not transferred to the Department or State Government to safeguard the project assets, it noted.
Besides, the Department’s laxity in implementing the project as per NEC guidelines led to the facility lying idle for the last two years and a loss of potential revenue from its operation, it added.
Accordingly, the CAG recommended that the State Government review the Deed of Land Donation and update land records to reflect Government ownership.
It also called upon the State Government to ensure that the assets and facilities created under the project are utilised as envisaged in the DPR.
As per the State DIPR, Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change and Labour and Employment Bhupender Yadav inaugurated the park during his visit to the district on August 24, 2023.
The present status of the garden, however, remains unclear based on the CAG audit.
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