Haryana Development and Panchayats department and district administration of Ambala have taken serious note of four village panchayats in the district's Saha block for allegedly misutilising funds by installing poor quality street lights.
Stating this here today, a spokesman of Development and Panchayats department said the villages include Kesari, Langar, Chhanni and Chhapra.
A team of the department had conducted checks on street lights installed in these villages and it was found that the panchayats had got lights of poor quality installed, violating departmental rules and regulations, he said.
"The issue was brought to the notice of Ambala district administration and the police who are taking action. A departmental inquiry is also being conducted," he said.
Instead of getting street lights of leading companies installed as per the instructions of the department, "they opted for street lights of a local company, violating departmental instructions," the spokesman said.
"They had not followed directions on wattage as prescribed by the department. Not only this, they purchased these lights at rates double than those of standard companies, causing huge loss to the state exchequer," he added.
