L-G asks DDA to audit all Village works

Lieutenant-Governor Tejendra Khanna on Tuesday asked the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) to take up a high-powered technical and quality audit of all works completed by the developer of the Commonwealth Games Village to check for deviations in sanctioned plans. The same has also been communicated to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh,Cabinet Secretary M Chandrasekhar and the CWG Group of Ministers headed by Urban Development Minister Jaipal Reddy,the sources said.

The audit will look into whether private developer Emaar-MGF deviated from the plans sanctioned by the Government of India for the development of the Games Village. This was seen as the reason for the bad state of the Village,which attracted much attention and rebuke for the Indian organisers. Despite running on a very tight schedule,the laxity of the Organising Committee in taking ownership and custodial action is seen as another reason for the entire mess.

It has been learnt that the L-G had written to Cabinet Secretary,Sports Secretary and GoM head in August,highlighting the need for the OC to establish ownership at the Village by locking flats and getting works done under its own strict supervision. The letter also said there was a need to deploy at least 500 personnel for the custodial and housekeeping works. A delay in looking into these needs is learnt to have been responsible for the mess now,sources said.

The L-G’s new communique,issued to DDA vice-chairman Ashok Kumar,calls for an audit of all works completed by Emaar-MGF to check deviations and defects. The bank guarantees submitted by the developer would also be kept alive till the audit is complete and conclusions drawn,the sources said.