Jaipur: Rajasthan’s Public Health Engineering Department is heading into peak summer with more than 40 engineers, including four chief engineers, either jailed or awaiting posting orders, raising fears of severe pressure on water supply operations.Officials said the arrest of former PHED secretary Subodh Agarwal in the alleged Jal Jeevan Mission irregularities has further unsettled the department.“The department was running short of manpower as many posts of the engineering department were vacant. Now, with investigating agencies arresting engineers and state govt placing engineers under APO, the situation has worsened. It may go out of control during the summers if there is water scarcity during peak summer months as it happened in 2024,” a senior PHED engineer said.Engineers said summer sharply increases the workload as they must check pipeline pilferage, prevent households from using booster pumps to draw extra water illegally, and arrange tanker supplies.“During crisis we are flooded with phone calls directly from the consumers or from officials of the helpline numbers over which consumers lodge complaint. We need to address all the issues individually,” an engineer said.Under the present situation engineers have been assigned additional charge, with some handling more than three portfolios together. “It would be impossible to handle the additional work load. The problem is more in rural areas where engineers have huge areas under jurisdiction,” an engineer said.Officials said that till March 15, 40 engineers, including four chief engineers, had been arrested or placed under awaiting posting orders. The number has now risen to more than 42, with those removed earlier yet to be reinstated.Some PHED officials said engineers were placed under awaiting posting orders for reasons beyond their alleged links to the Jal Jeevan Mission scam.Engineers placed under awaiting posting orders are entitled to full salary, but pending dues are usually released only after they are given fresh postings.
