Embankments...
politicians: A means to generate funds for the party's coffers
• Used the concept of shramdan (voluntary labour) to exploit the people
• Awarded contracts to their relatives and party workers
• Failed to maintain proper accounts
contractors: Saw earthwork as an easy way to make a fast buck
• Exploited loopholes in the supply of earth and boulders; boulders supplied at one site would be shifted to another
• Could supply the same boulders to three different sites on paper
• Lobbied with engineers to grab all such contracts
engineers: An easy way to get commissions from contractors
• Scope for corruption. Making money while maintaining and rebuilding embankments. Poor maintenance led to rebuilding of embankments.
• Scope for letting criminals shift material from one site to another so that it could be billed at both sites
criminals: Could follow contractors into bidding for earthwork contracts
• Establish close links with bureaucrats, politicians and engineers with the money earned
• Fund political parties as this provided them some protection from the law
• Gave them a say in the running of the state
people: An unnecessary evil. Which prolonged floods and increased suffering
• Imparted a false sense of security to them
• Displaced poor farmers and rendered them landless
• Forced the poor to take to crime
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