AMC suspends 4 engineers for ‘irregularities’ in Rs 7 crore storm water drainage project
Departmental inquiry to be conducted against officials; FIR to be lodged; money to be recovered from contractors
The case pertains to storm water drainage works in the East zone areas of Ramol-Hathijan and Vastral. The Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) said its vigilance wing has busted a racket involving four of its engineers and contract companies indulging in alleged irregularities in the storm water drainage project worth over Rs 7 crore in New Maninagar of East Zone. The engineers were found to have allegedly maintained records that did not match with the on-site work and committed other financial irregularities, the AMC said.
Municipal Commissioner Banchhanidhi Pani suspended the officials — Additional City Engineer Rajesh Rathwa, Deputy City Engineer Utkarsh Bhabhor, Assistant City Engineer Ramesh Baria and Assistant Engineer Alpesh Makwana — on Monday, after the vigilance inquiry found their involvement in the irregularities. “A departmental inquiry will be conducted against them. An FIR will also be lodged against those responsible,” the AMC said in a statement.
The case pertains to storm water drainage works in the East zone areas of Ramol-Hathijan and Vastral. In the preliminary investigation conducted by AMC’s Vigilance Department, the four officials were found to have paid contractors based on duplicate invoices and changed the measurement book after the commissioning of the project on the assigned measurements.
“The investigation revealed that in the Ramol-Hathijan ward of the East Zone, Visat Construction was assigned the work of laying a new storm water drainage network in New Maninagar and adjoining areas under Draft Town Planning Scheme 107, 108 and 115. TUV Rheinland (India) Private Limited was appointed as the Project Management Consultant (PMC) for this work. The tender amount for the work was Rs 7.33 crore while the sanctioned amount was Rs 6.68 crore. The AMC has paid Rs 5.81 crore to the contractor, so far,” officials told The Indian Express.
The vigilance investigation found that Visat Construction sublet this work to Raw Gold Waste Management Private Limited.
A difference was found while checking the details of the bills as part of the probe. According to the AMC, pages were changed before the measurement book was submitted to the vigilance department, after the payment was made. The Vigilance Department recorded the statements of the contractors: Visat Construction, Miral Infrastructure, Raw Gold Waste Management Private Limited, Vincenzo Project Private Limited, and representatives of TUV Rheinland (India) Private Limited and IR Class System and Solution Private Limited, who acted as the Project Management Consultant (PMC). In addition, the investigation team recorded statements of the implementing officials and conducted site inspections and relied on documentary evidence. The AMC said it will recover Rs 1.62 crore from Visat Construction for the “irregularities”. Additionally, a further recovery of Rs 26.12 lakh will be made for the difference recorded in the quantity of the 1200 mm diameter line and Rs 45 lakh will be recovered for the difference between the actual measurement on site and the measurement recorded in the book. Thus, a total of Rs 2.34 crore will be recovered from Visat Construction, the AMC said.
“On the other hand, irregularities were also found in the work of laying storm water drains in TP 105, 106, 113, 114 and Odhav TP 112 and 104 areas under Package-2 Khodiyar Lake in Vastral ward of East Zone. Miral Infrastructure was assigned this work, while IR Class System and Solution Private Limited worked as PMC. The tender amount for this work was Rs 9.09 crore and the sanctioned amount was Rs 10.35 crore. So far, Rs 4.22 crore has been paid by the AMC. During the investigation, a difference was found between the measurements recorded in the measurement book and the actual measurements taken on site in the works of Miral Infrastructure,” the AMC said, adding that a decision has been taken to recover Rs 10.52 lakh from the company.
It has also been decided to blacklist TUV Rheinland (India) Private Limited, which is working as a PMC for failing to properly monitor and verify the work and the documentary process, the Ahmedabad Municipal Commissioner said. No new works will be assigned to the agencies until the investigation is completed, he added.
Corrective measures
The AMC has announced corrective measures to prevent such irregularities in the future. On Monday, the AMC implemented a new procedure for verification and pre-audit of bills.
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