The state government is losing a huge amount of money every day as theft of soil excavated during the dredging of canals around Singur small car project site is going on unhindered due to lack of proper surveillance. Some employees of the district irrigation department officials are suspected to be involved in the theft racket, said an official of the Singur block office. According to government regulations, some of the excavated earth has to be provided to interested parties after collecting royalty/cess from them while the remaining portion is to be used for strengthening the canal embankments. As a result of non-stop soil theft, the state government has lost several lakh rupees, said officials. Mr Sekhar Roy, SDO, Chandernagore, said he had received some verbal complaints in this regard following which police and officials of the irrigation department have been asked to step up vigil. The state government had instructed the district administration to use a portion of excavated soil for strengthening the embankments of Cut Kunti, Ghia, Julkia. It had also been decided that the surplus earth would be sold to Hooghly District Brick Manufacturing Association and another private agency which had shown interest in purchasing soil after paying royalty/cess. The block land office and land reforms department is entitled to get the royalty/cess. A senior official of the Singur block office said some irrigation department employees are allowing some brick-field owners and earth traders to continue stealing the excavated earth which is stacked beside the canals. An official of the agency which was appointed for dredging the canals, had written to the SDO of the Chandernagore Irrigation Sub-division on 28 April this year regarding unauthorised excavation of soil by some people, and had sought administrative measures to stop such unauthorised excavations. In his letter, the official of the company had informed the SDO (Irrigation) that "reconciliation of excavated earth' may not be possible if unauthorised excavation is not stopped. He had mentioned in the letter that it was not possible for the agency to guard both banks of Cut Kunti, Ghia and Julkia canals. According to official records, the district irrigation department has declared 2,25,778 cubic meters of earth as surplus, but according to a senior district official, the actual quantity of surplus soil is much more that what is mentioned in the records.