Belagavi forest dept spends Rs 1.2 crore sans tender notification

Belagavi: Amid cash crunch due to the implementation of guarantee schemes, it has come to light that the govt has spent Rs 1.2 crore on the renovation and beautification of the Belagavi office of the deputy conservator of forests (DCF). The concerning aspect is that tenders were invited for only Rs 15 lakh of the total works, while the rest were carried out without tender notification.
Khanapur MLA Vitthal Halagekar raised this issue in the assembly during the recently concluded session. The campus houses other offices, including that of chief conservator of forests (CCF), assistant conservator of forests (ACF), and range forest officer (RFO). Renovation and beautification works were conducted across the entire campus.
A total of 34 works were undertaken using Rs 1.2 crore fund. According to the forest department's response to MLA Halagekar, the fund was spent on painting, garden renovation, installing pavers, constructing inner roads, repairing toilets, improving internal drainage, constructing a compound wall, water supply, and other works. As, most of these works were carried out without calling for tenders, there are suspicions of fund misuse.
Speaking to TOI, DCF Maria Christu Raja D explained, "There are 10 offices, 40 residential quarters, and one rest house on the same campus. The works were at different locations and involved different types of tasks. It is not feasible to call one tender for all those works as each is at a different location and involves a different kind of work. Most of them were small works, with costs ranging from Rs 50,000 to Rs 5 lakh, which do not require tenders as they are below the Rs 5 lakh threshold."
DCF Maria further clarified that the works aimed at improving and modernising the entire forest office campus to provide better service to the public. The focus was on enhancing the overall forest administration infrastructure where employees work.
Earlier, when the work started, several environmentalists expressed displeasure over the cutting of large trees and the demolition of the old compound wall around DCF's office for garden beautification. The department defended its actions, stating that the large trees cut were old and weak.