Chandigarh, Oct. 11 -- A UT audit found financial and procedural lapses in the public health division's functioning, including a Rs.32 lakh cost escalation on a government school project, non-recovery of contractor penalties and expired bank guarantees to the tune of Rs.10 lakh. The audit also found that 70 of the division's 113 sanctioned posts were vacant, leaving only 43 employees to manage its responsibilities. The test audit, conducted by the office of the director general of audit (Central), Sector 17-E, examined records from April 2023 to March 2025. The division, under the UT engineering department, handles public health infrastructure, rainwater harvesting, stormwater drainage and air-conditioning maintenance at government institutions and other public facilities. The most significant finding was an alleged financial irregularity in the construction of an underground drinking water sump (tank) at Government Model High School,Sector 25. Although the contract was awarded for Rs.45 lakh, the final payment rose toRs.77 lakh, an increase of nearly 37%. According to the audit, detailed estimates amounting to Rs.72 lakh were prepared and the department obtained the administrative approval for Rs.79 lakh of works. The deviations exceeding 10% were executed without prior technical concurrence, as required under rules. Further, despite a delay of more than three months in completion of the project, the department failed to impose penalties to the tune of Rs.2 lakh and recover an additional Rs.2 lakh for the contractor's failure to deploy the required technical engineers. It was also found that the final bill was paid without the mandatory completion certificates from the superintending or executive engineers. The audit also found that performance bank guarantees to the tune of Rs.10 lakh for projects including fire-fighting systems in government schools, air-conditioning upgrades at PG Government College, Sector 11, and tertiary water pipelines had expired without revalidation. The division's financial management also came underscrutiny. The central divisional cash book was not maintained at the main office, excess refunds to contractors resulted in a negative deposit balance of Rs.45 lakh, and remittances of Rs.15 lakh had remained unacknowledged since 2017. Final bills for nine projects completed in 2024-25, worth over Rs.1.7 crore were still pending finalisation despite expenditure of Rs.1.5 crore. Audit liabilities relating to 19 works from 2016-17 and 33 from 2019-20 also remained unresolved. Three condemned government vehicles, aged up to 36 years, had yet to be scrapped....