The Water Resources Department (WRD) of Andhra Pradesh is facing an acute shortage of engineers as many posts including that of Chief Engineers (CEs) and Superintending Engineers (SEs) are lying vacant.  A cursory look at the manpower available with the department suggests that three crucial Engineer-In-Chief (EnC) posts—EnC (Administration), EnC (Irrigation) and Commissioner of Tenders (CoT)— are vacant.The EnC (Irrigation) post has been vacant for six years. The government, to keep the ball rolling, has given retired EnC Mamidi Venkateswara Rao C. Narayana Reddy, who is also an Adviser to the department, the additional responsibility of EnC. Mr. Narayana Reddy, who retired around a month ago, served as an in-charge EnC till his superannuation, says a senior official on the condition of anonymity.Of the sanctioned strength of 19 Chief Engineers (CEs), 14 posts are vacant. There are only three regular CEs, while the in-charges hold the remaining posts. The key CE posts such as technical, projects, tenders, and design have been entrusted to senior SEs as in-charge CEs.  Of a total of 56 SE posts, 40 are lying vacant. The projects, vigilance, tenders, designs and quality, and circles Offices have no regular SEs.There are 274 Executive Engineer (EE) posts in all wings of the WRD, of which more than 125 posts are vacant. Senior Deputy Executive Engineers (DEEs) have been appointed as the in-charges. Additionally, 182 of 943 Deputy Executive Engineer (Dy. EE) posts are vacant, hampering the department’s operations, sources say.Legal tangles Highly placed sources say that legal issues also play a role in the delay of promotions, with several cases pending in the court of law. There is also an argument that the previous YSRCP government did not focus on strengthening the department. “Neither proper action was taken with regard to promotions and this exacerbated the situation,” says an official.An analysis of WRD reveals that significant staff shortages pose challenges to effective service delivery. It was evident from the recent havoc created by the Budameru floods. The in-charges were said to have found it challenging to act on time when the floodwater levels were on the rise alarmingly. Published – September 17, 2024 07:02 pm IST