Vigilance Committee unearths fraud in construction of RCC drains
3 Sep, 2013
The reply to an application filed under the Right to Information (RTI) Act shows that the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) had undertaken 72 projects related to construction of RCC (Reinforced Cement Concrete) drains by roadsides with an estimated cost of Rs. 14.4 crores.
However, during the inspection of the work the Technical Vigilance Committee under the Commissioner (TVCC) of the BBMP found that there were several cases of duplication of civic works and many of the projects taken up were superfluous. The technical vigilance team found that the existing Burnt Stone (BS) slab drains were removed despite the fact that they were functional and in good condition. In their places, slab stones were constructed. The committee said that this was done because the palike engineers wanted to take up the RCC drain projects anyhow.
The committee also found that at many places the location of the proposed work didn't match with the site mentioned in the estimates. Apart from this, no provisions were made for the reuse of the removed slab stones. Also the provisions were not backed by any technical justification. The team also observed that in some areas no field visit was made to prepare the estimates and in some other cases proposals were made for the works that had already been completed. There was also an instance where the road construction project had already been taken up by the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA).