T’puram: More than a year after an internal vigilance report ruled out malice and plotting behind the delay in the implementation of the Pallivasal extension project, KSEB finally decided against taking disciplinary action against officials accused of the delay. The completion of the project, the work of which started in 2007, was included in the 100 days programme of the LDF govt. However, the same did not materialise, which prompted power minister K Krishnankutty to direct the board to take action against the officials responsible for the delay in project implementation. A fact-finding inquiry was ordered to find out whether the delay in the implementation of the Pallivasal extension project was due to negligence on the part of the officials concerned, and whether there was vested interest in delaying the commissioning of the project by continuously violating the assurances given by the officials to the CMD and the govt regarding the completion of the project. The inquiry also probed whether the inclusion of the project in the 100 days programme of the govt was done without considering the objections raised by the contract agency. There were also allegations that the commissioning was indefinitely delayed due to the real problems of the project not being presented in the ministerial/CMD-level meetings. It was also suspected that the officials concerned exerted pressure on the contract agency to procure items not included in the bill of quantities, and time extensions were given for the same. All these allegations were probed by the KSEB vigilance. The vigilance report found that there were lapses on the part of the officials. However, such lapses were not deliberate. Deficiencies in contract management were the main reason for the delay in project implementation. The vigilance report did not recommend any action against the officials concerned, saying that such action would demoralise the officials and further affect the implementation of the project. The project, which was abandoned at a stage, posed severe challenges as it needed extensive engineering and integration work. It was during the execution stage that many huge technical challenges surfaced. Despite the technical challenges, the project was operational by Dec 2024. Both machines of 30 MW capacity were functioning well.
