Scamsters make money from a drain

According to Palike sources, Journalists’ Colony in Dharmaraya Temple Ward (119) saw frequent flooding and the Palike constructed a major stormwater drain in 2008 as part of the Koramangala-Challaghatta Valley Project under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JnNURM).

Under the Rs 59.2-lakh project, four culverts were to be built using pre-cast elements in the first four cross-roads of the colony.

As per the sanctioned design, 40 pre-cast elements were to be used with ten each in every cross-road. A private firm, MS Reddy and Company, was assigned the task.

As per the scheme, four bills were submitted by the contractor for a payment of Rs 51.8 lakh, of which the Chief Finance Officer of JnNURM (BBMP) made a payment of Rs 48.53 lakh in October 2008.

However, the construction of the stormwater drain did not serve the purpose as flooding continued.

On June 29 this year, local corporator P Dhanaraj raised the matter in the Council, and Palike Commissioner Siddaiah ordered an inquiry by the Technical Vigilance Cell under Commissioner (TVCC), which came out with stunning facts.

The committee found that related documents in the executive engineer’s office were missing, but Dhanaraj had the attested photocopies of the documents he had extracted under the RTI Act.

The documents revealed that the contractor had erected only 16 pre-cast elements against the required 40.

The money actually spent for the project was only Rs 22.4 lakh and not Rs 51.8 lakh as claimed by the contractor, who in connivance with the Palike engineers, tried to swindle the rest.

The TVCC has found executive engineer Srinivas Murthy, assistant executive engineer Anantha Murthy and assistant engineer Muralidhar guilty, besides contractor M S Reddy.

When contacted, Special Commissioner K R Niranjan said the Palike would not only take stringent action against the errant officers at the departmental level, but also initiate criminal proceedings against all the guilty.