Flats for judicial officers at Dwarka: Delhi minister orders Vigilance inquiry against 9 engineers, contractor
Speaking to The Indian Express, Singh said the contractor, MBL Infrastructure Limited, has been blacklisted and directions have been issued to take strict action against it, including registration of FIR
PWD Minister Parvesh Sahib Singh (File) Public Works Department (PWD) Minister Parvesh Sahib Singh on Monday said he has sought a Vigilance inquiry against nine engineers and a contractor involved in the construction of 70 residential flats for judicial officers in Dwarka’s Sector 19. The flats were demolished last year, even before they could be allotted to the residents, due to the poor quality of construction.
Speaking to The Indian Express, Singh said the contractor, MBL Infrastructure Limited, has been blacklisted and directions have been issued to take strict action against it, including registration of FIR. “When… I saw the files, I found that orders to initiate an inquiry against these people involved were given, but no action was taken, and no show cause notice was issued. Despite this, a new proposal was moved to construct another residential complex on the same land for Rs 178 crore, which I have rejected…,” he said.
“Looking at the seriousness of the matter, I have given directions that an FIR be registered against the contractor and show cause notices be issued to all the officials involved… a Vigilance probe also has to be initiated,” he added.
Officials said that following the inquiry, disciplinary action could also be taken against these officials. The nine officials to be probed are a chief engineer, four superintendent engineers, two executive engineers, and two assistant engineers.
The Finance Department’s Expenditure Finance Committee (EFC) had deferred a proposal moved by the PWD in April to reconstruct the flats on the same plot, citing gaps. It had said that the PWD did not mention the dilapidation of the units constructed earlier at the site, and the reasons for the demolition that followed the poorly constructed units. The PWD also did not name the officers responsible for the substandard construction, the panel highlighted.
“These facts were required to be presented… to ensure that the same lapses are not repeated… PWD was directed to incorporate the same, in detail, in its revised proposal. Accordingly, the proposal was deferred,” it had said.
The work on the units was awarded in 2014, and the deadline was set for February 2017. However, the first contract was rescinded in 2018 after Rs 30 crore had been spent out of the total estimated cost of Rs 48 crore. As the structure remained incomplete, the department issued a tender for the project again and paid around Rs 2.5 crore to a second contractor, who later abandoned the work, reporting that the building seemed “unstable” and was developing “cracks.”
When The Indian Express visited the structure last year before its demolition, 11 blocks, including a sub-station, and seven buildings had been constructed.
As the matter went to the Supreme Court, the court asked the PWD to submit a structural audit report conducted by IIT Delhi. In the following years, CBRI, Roorkee (2021), CPWD (2022), and IIT-Delhi (2023) submitted their reports to the PWD.
“The visual observations and test reports showed that the reinforcement in concrete is suffering from chloride-induced corrosion… such a high value of chloride content inevitably leads to corrosion of reinforcement within… short duration,” an official had said.
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