Major financial irregularities and illegal expenditures amounting to over 2.04 billion rupees have been uncovered in the construction of 100 dams in Balochistan, an audit report by the Department of Finance has revealed.
The report highlights a four-year delay in the dam projects, which led to an additional cost of 261 million rupees. Construction on 26 dams, which was supposed to be completed in 2018, was only finished in 2021.
The audit found that the delay led to an increase of 133.6 million rupees in project implementation unit and supervision expenses. Additionally, security deductions amounting to 120 million rupees were not made from contractors.
The Department of Finance’s findings include a shortfall of 9.9 million rupees in income tax collected from contractors, 112.6 million rupees in excess payments under non-scheduled rates, and more than 150 million rupees in expenses claimed without laboratory tests.
The report also highlighted unauthorized expenditures of over 950 million rupees for compaction tests and 131.8 million rupees in unauthorized expenses for soil removal and rock blasting. The audit report recommended identifying those responsible for these irregularities and taking appropriate action against them.