M A I N   N E W S

Games under CVC scanner
Kumar Rakesh
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, July 29
The Central Vigilance Commission has found some serious discrepancies in the ongoing work of Commonwealth Games and has highlighted suspected cases of corruption in which exorbitant expenditures were made and inadmissible factors were considered to jack up prices.

The CVC, over a course of time, studied 15 CWG projects, carried out by different state and Central agencies, and sent its observations to the vigilance wing of these bodies to take appropriate action.

“We have asked them to send us the action taken report and our next course of action will depend on their response,” a senior CVC official said today.

The CWG budget has overrun the initial official estimate by anywhere between 525 per cent to 1,575 per cent, which oscillates between conservative government projection to audit reports of independent agencies. It has left many wondering if all the money was being spent the right way or officials and contractors were diverting a chunk of heavy cash flow to line their pockets amidst the frenetic rush to finish work in time.

“Almost all organisations executing works for the CWG have considered inadmissible factors to jack up the reasonable price to justify award of work at quoted prices citing urgent/emergent circumstances. Despite higher rates, poor site management, delays and quality compromises have been observed,” the CVC report prepared by its Chief Technical Examiners Wing says.

The report also cites a case where an agency has gone for imported High Pressure Sodium Vapour luminaries available at thrice the price of luminaries with same specifications, causing the exchequer loss of Rs 1.52 crore.

Giving another instance, it says rates of some items and discount offered by the firm were tampered with either by cutting or overwriting in the price bid in order to increase the quoted amount to avail the difference of Rs 3.62 crore between the next higher quoted amounts without changing the overall status.

The 15 projects under CVC scanner, include upgrade and renovation of Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium, Talkatora Stadium, Shyama Prasad Mukherjee swimming pool, development of practice rubgy venue at Jamia Milia Islamia University besides many infrastructure and beautification works done across the Capital.

Five of the 15 projects were undertaken by the PWD (Delhi), three by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi, two each by the CPWD, the NDMC and the DDA and one by RITES.

The CVC report has also raised question marks over the quality of these works and said that to gloss over the poor quality, test records were “fabricated” to show high strength of the construction.

Comparing its test record with that of a construction agency, it says 12 concrete cube samples tested by it failed to meet 28 days strength test while in records maintained none of the sample had failed.

Referring to ubiquitous streetscaping going on in Delhi, the CVC says almost all the agencies have taken up the work without ascertaining the need for such upgrade. “The main purpose of aesthetics could not be achieved due to poor quality control and lack of supervision and coordination,” the report said.