River front scam: CBI may expedite probe, quiz Shivpal

LUCKNOW/KANPUR: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) may speed up investigation into the multi-crore Gomti river front scam in Lucknow and interrogate Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party-Lohia (PSPL) president and former cabinet minister Shivpal Yadav, after the Uttar Pradesh government on Monday downgraded his security cover from ‘Z’ to ‘Y’ category.

Yadav was the Uttar Pradesh irrigation minister when the Gomti riverfront project was executed during the SP government’s tenure.

The CBI probe initially confirmed that a budget of ₹1,513 crore was sanctioned for the project and around ₹1,437 crore was spent without completing 60% of the work.

Multiple anomalies surfaced in the expenditure. Besides, the company that was allotted work of the river front beautification was a defaulter.

The Enforcement Directorate had also initiated a probe under the money laundering act. The decision of downgrading Yadav’s security cover apparently comes in the backdrop of his aggressive campaigning for December 5 Mainpuri Lok Sabha by-election in support of Samajwadi Party candidate Dimple Yadav.

There were speculations in political and bureaucratic circles that the CBI could soon revive the investigation, said a senior bureaucrat.

PSPL chief Shivpal Yadav, reacting to media queries about the likely CBI investigation against him and three others in the alleged Gomti riverfront scam, said he was not aware of it and was hearing it from the media. “What else can one expect from them (BJP)…my work has always been for the benefit of people and within rules and regulations,” he told reporters in Jaswant Nagar, Etawah. Shivpal is also Samajwadi Party MLA from Jaswant Nagar.

The investigation into the riverfront scam had reportedly slowed down after the split between Akhilesh Yadav and Shivpal and the perceived rising proximity between Shivpal and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the past.

Shivpal Yadav was the cabinet minister and held Uttar Pradesh irrigation department when the riverfront project was conceived and executed during the Samajwadi Party’s tenure from 2012-17. However, a multicrore scam was alleged in the project after the SP government departed in 2017.

On February 17, 2021, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had filed a charge-sheet in the CBI court in Lucknow against six people, including two directors of the firm that was allotted the work of river channelisation, and subsequently two irrigation engineers in Lucknow were arrested. The CBI had registered the case in the matter on the state government’s recommendation on November 30, 2017.

The Uttar Pradesh government recommended a CBI probe in 2017 after a committee formed to inquire into the matter found multiple anomalies in beautification of the river front.

The state government lodged a first information report (FIR) against several people, including senior officials of the irrigation department on June 19, 2017, alleging that not even 60% of the work related to the river front channelisation was completed despite over 95% of the estimated budget being spent.

THE CBI PROBE INITIALLY CONFIRMED THAT A BUDGET OF ₹1,513 CRORE WAS SANCTIONED FOR THE PROJECT AND AROUND ₹1,437 CRORE WAS SPENT WITHOUT COMPLETING 60% OF THE WORK