The Nitish government has unearthed massive irregularities in funds meant for the development of Patna's Sanjay Gandhi Botanical and Zoological Garden while also discovering that all files with expenditure details have also mysteriously disappeared, officials in Patna said on Thursday.
Sources said the misappropriations of nearly Rs. 12 lakh relates to the proposed plan of developing an aviary inside the zoo and took place during the tenure of former zoo director Y. K. Singh Chauhan.
The matter is currently under investigation and until it is complete, it would be hard to estimate the actual amount missing from the fund, the chief forest officer Murarji Mishra said.
According to the report, the Patna zoo was to have an aviary with the funds provided by the Central Zoo Authority. However, besides some iron poles installed near the newly-built lake at the zoo, the construction work never took off, he said.
The irregularities came into light after the Nitish government initiated a comprehensive probe of all government projects undertaken under the previous government.
Several of the officials attached with the project are now posted in Jharkhand state, officials said.
From: patnadaily.com
