FAISALABAD, Nov 27: Following wrong utilisation of the maintenance and rehabilitation (MR) funds at a large scale, Punjab Chief Secretary Javeed Mahmood has freezed the spending of public money under this head, it is learnt.

Sources told Dawn on Thursday that the chief secretary during his three-day visit to different localities of Faisalabad, Jhang and Toba Tek Singh districts had ascertained that million of rupees funds under the MR had been allocated by the respective district administrations and towns even for newly-constructed buildings of departments, schools and roads.

The situation stunned him when he learnt that a number of schemes under MR had been selected without proper inspection, and the respective administrations only relied on their subordinates instead of ascertaining the facts.

The chief secretary came to know that most of the funds under MR were being used for different purposes instead of improving the condition of dilapidated buildings.

He directed all the divisional commissioners to get the details of buildings and roads specified for maintenance and rehabilitation. All district, town and tehsil administrations had been asked to submit a detail of projects to be carried out under the MR head to the commissioners, the sources said.

Talking to this correspondent, Faisalabad division commissioner Zahid Saeed confirmed the freeze of MR funds, and said the CS had directed all the commissioners to re-examine all the buildings and roads selected for refurbishment.

“Now the commissioners will finalise such projects and ensure utilisation of quality material and strict monitoring of construction work,” Saeed said. He said the re-assessment work of all the projects selected earlier for renovation would be completed within a month.

Mr Saeed said there were certain instances that millions of rupees funds were spent even on the newly-constructed roads and buildings, though according to law no body was authorised to spend even a single penny by the next three years.

During inspection of Taremon Headwork, Mr Mahmood asked the commissioners to launch a crackdown on water thieves. He said if any parliamentarian was found involved in water theft, a case would be immediately reported to the speakers of their respective assemblies after intimating the chief minister.

The CS expressed his displeasure over the poor sanitation, rusted machinery, faulty lights, broken footpaths and dilapidated condition of other areas at Taremon. He gave a 24-hour deadline to Irrigation Department officers for improving the situation.

The chief secretary also ordered immediate audit of the funds spent on rehabilitation of Taremon.

Commissioners have also been directed to collect details of all rest houses, colonies and lands of the irrigation department to ascertain that whether all such facilities were being used by authorised people or not.