The State Human Rights Commission (SHRC) has called for explanations from the Metrowater for the ‘avoidable expense of Rs 6.95’ crore cited in the Comptroller and Auditor-General’s report.
The acting chairperson of the SHRC, K Baskaran, issued the directions to the Metrowater and sought the report in four weeks, on the basis of a complaint lodged by advocate K Sudhan.
Noting that the CAG report had slammed Metrowater for ‘indulging in several acts of commissions and omissions’, the complaint said that the government agency had not prepared any feasibility or detailed project report while setting up the 100 MLD water desalination plant at Minjur here.
According to Sudhan, the CAG report had indicted Metrowater officials by stating that an avoidable expense of Rs 6.95 crore was incurred by them towards electricity charges, due to the delay in getting the tariff changed from industrial tariff category to for high-tension service connection for its supply scheme. The Metrowater ended up paying the TNEB Rs 6.95 crore in excess towards energy and demand charges at industrial tariff rates, between July and December 2010, he said. The CAG report further reveals that Metrowater should have taken up the matter with the Tamil Nadu Electricity Regulatory Commission, well in advance before commissioning the Minjur desalination project, he said.
The complainant contended that the process of tariff conversion was a basic formality and that the officials of Metrowater should have approached TNEB and TNERC before the ground breaking ceremony with a request for tariff conversion. Had that been done, the Metrowater would not have paid an excess electricity tariff of Rs 6.95 crore, he added.
Sudhan said all those Metrowater officials primarily responsible for an avoidable expenditure of Rs 6.95 crore due to non-conversion of the electricity tariff structure before commencing the Minjur water desalination project out of their sheer negligence and all those officials who were shielding their erring colleagues should be proceeded against in accordance with law.
