JOIN USDH Impact | Excess payment: BDA to inquire into audit report
After a third–party audit of the Nadaprabhu Kempegowda layout found an excess payment of Rs 40 crore made to contractors, the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) had decided to take up an internal inquiry to ascertain the validity of the report. A team, headed by BDA's engineer member, is expected to submit the report in fifteen days.
An internal inquiry was ordered by BDA's Chief Commissioner G Kumar Naik on Tuesday after DH published a report exposing the premature release of payments to the two construction firms. The story was based on a report submitted by Alcon Consulting Engineers, who were hired by the BDA, to audit the Kempegowda Layout where 26,000 sites are currently being formed.
BDA's engineer member H S Shantarajanna is expected to verify the findings of the audit report, assess the payments made to the contractors and measure the progress on the ground. The work pertaining to formation of layouts, roads and drains etc.
According to the audit findings, the BDA had released excess payments to the two construction firms for works they did not take up. The audit exposed BDA’s corrupt and faulty system where the contractors benefitted from payments without delivering the work on time. This may have also been the reason why the layout formation is running behind schedule by two to three years.
Senior officials in the BDA said that the payments are made only after the contractors bill is verified at multiple level. "The project management consultants, a private firm, is expected to first review the bill. It will be re-verified by the engineer on ground. The file then moves to the engineer member and the finance section. The premature release of payments is a serious offence," he said.