In December 2005, the Haryana govt had approved construction of a dam across Kaushalya river near Panchkula for `51.37 crore.

In December 2005, the Haryana govt had approved construction of a dam across Kaushalya river near Panchkula for `51.37 crore. In December 2005, the Haryana govt had approved construction of a dam across Kaushalya river near Panchkula for `51.37 crore.

The Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) has unearthed a Rs 217-crore scam in Haryana. An audit, conducted by Comptroller and Auditor General of India, has revealed that the state government spent Rs 51.37 crore to construct Kaushalya Dam, but it has inflated the value of construction up to Rs 217 crore.

The report also found that the state government extended "undue favours'' to the contractor who constructed the Kaushalya dam, which failed to serve its main purpose of providing drinking water to Panchkula despite a four-fold increase in cost.

In December 2005, the Haryana government approved a project for "construction of an earthen dam across river Kaushalya near Pinjore for Rs 51.37 crore with a view to supply drinking water to Panchkula city, recharge ground water, check flash floods, promote tourism and fisheries in reservoir area''. The decision not only escalated the construction cost but also took six years to complete, the report said.

The CAG report further said the state government not only wasted public funds on the dam but also did not recover the penalty of Rs 11.29 crore from the private agency that delayed the construction of the project. The report has also slammed the then Congress government for having failed to achieve the targets of the dam project.

"The Haryana Urban Development Authority laid pipelines by spending Rs 43.25 crore in April 2013 up to dam to lift water to Panchkula city but failed as there was no water in the dam. Water can only be lifted when the water level in the dam reaches 460 metres. The dam water level so far has been 456.90 metre," says the report.

The dam has been an eye of a storm ever since the new government came into existence in Haryana. The matter was brought to the notice of the government by a local NGO, which had alleged that the then Congress government extended undue benefits to the contractor who was awarded the project.