Two retired bureaucrats who served as chief secretaries in the erstwhile Samajwadi Party government may find themselves in trouble in connection with the alleged irregularities in the Samajwadi Party’s ambitious Gomti Riverfront project.
The Anti-Corruption Branch of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has sought permission from the UP government for a probe against former chief secretaries Alok Ranjan and Deepak Singhal.
Both the former officers were accused of overlooking the alleged irregularities. Alok Ranjan was the chief secretary while Deepak Singhal the principal secretary (Irrigation) at the time of Gomti Riverfront construction. Later, Singhal became the chief secretary of the state.
Financial irregularities to the tune of over Rs 1,400 have been alleged in the Gomti Riverfront project and FIRs have been registered against 189 people.
Both Ranjan and Singhal were considered to be close to the then Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav. During the construction of the Gomti Riverfront, Ranjan and Singhal had travelled to many countries for research on channelisation and rubber dams. Ranjan was the chairman of the task force set up for the riverfront and it had 23 meetings. At the same time, Singhal had made more than 20 visits to the construction site. The CBI believes that even after so many meetings and visits, these two officers overlooked the irregularities.
After taking charge as the UP Chief Minister, Yogi Adityanath visited the Gomti Riverfront on March 27, 2017. On April 1, a committee was formed under the chairmanship of Justice (retd) Alok Singh to conduct a probe. The committee submitted its report after 45 days on May 16.
The committee headed by Urban Development Minister Suresh Khanna and comprising two other ministers, was tasked with taking action against those found guilty. Later, an FIR was lodged by the Irrigation department at the Gomti Nagar police station on June 19.
Retired chief engineer Gulesh Chandra, then chief engineer SN Sharma, Kazim Ali, then superintending engineer Shiv Mangal Yadav, Kamleshwar Singh, Roop Singh Yadav and executive engineer Surendra Yadav were named in the FIR. On July 20, 2017, a recommendation was made to the Center for a CBI probe.
On November 30, 2017, the CBI (Lucknow) started the probe. The ED is also conducting a probe into this case and has registered a case against the accused under the Money Laundering Act. On January 24, 2019, the ED had raided nine locations in Lucknow, Noida and Ghaziabad in connection with this case.
Sources said that the probe hinted at several irregularities such as environmental NOC not taken, tenders made against the rules and standards, emphasis on beautification more than cleaning Gomti, damage to environment on Gomti bank by diaphragm wall, arbitrary foreign trips in the name of project, etc.
At the time of the riverfront, Deepak Singhal was posted as principal secretary (Irrigation). Singhal, a 1982-batch IAS officer, then became the chief secretary by superseding 18 officers.
Similarly, Alok Ranjan, a 1978-batch IAS officer, held the post of principal secretary, Urban Development, in the erstwhile BSP government and later served as chief secretary in the Akhilesh Yadav’s government for two consecutive years till 2016. After his retirement, Ranjan was also associated as an advisor to the SP government and even during Lok Sabha elections in 2017.
Sources said Ranjan played an important role in drafting the SP manifesto. Ranjan’s name was also in discussion during the recent Rajya Sabha elections as a Samajwadi Party candidate in UP. However, he was later denied the ticket.
