Shobha Karandlaje seeks probe into GBA Solid Waste Management tender

Shobha alleged that completion violations of rules and procedures in awarding integrated Solid Waste Management tender for Bengaluru involving public expenditure of nearly 39,437 crores under North and South Packages.

New Delhi: Union Minister for State for Labour Shobha Karandlaje on Saturday alleged that massive irregularities in Solid Waste Management tender of Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) and demanded high level probe.

Karandlaje in her letter to Chief Secretary Shalini Rajneesh also demanded immediate halting of all process relates to this tender.

She alleged that completion violations of rules and procedures in awarding integrated Solid Waste Management tender for Bengaluru involving public expenditure of nearly 39,437 crores under North and South Packages.

"The material presently available in the public domain, coupled with official file records, reveals a pattern of serious procedural irregularities, financial impropriety, statutory violations and apparent administrative favoritism which calls for your immediate intervention," she said adding the Finance Department observation have been ignored to favour few entities.

"The detailed project report originally prepared by M/s Rites Limited had fixed the tipping fee after detailed technical scrutiny and committee approval. However, in an inexplicable and apparently unlawful departure from procedure, the DPR consultant was changed to M/s BCG, despite such substitution appearing contrary to the Karnataka Transparency in Public Procurements Rules. Following this irregular consultant substitution, the project estimates were drastically escalated, " Shobha, Lok Sabha member from Bengaluru North Lok Sabha seat said.

Alleging that repeated tender process itself raises serious questions, she said that first tender was cancelled under questionable circumstances. The second tender saw technical disqualification of all participating bidders. Astonishingly, the very same entities which were earlier found technically disqualified were subsequently treated as technically qualified in the third tender process without any transparent disclosure of material change in eligibility criteria, she said.

Such unexplained reversal creates a strong apprehension of manipulation in technical evaluation to suit predetermined private interests, she alleged.

Repeated allegations in the public domain regarding direct and indirect linkages between successful bidding entities and previously tainted waste management operators warrant urgent scrutiny. The repeated transfer of senior technical officers during crucial phases of the tender process further compounds suspicion regarding institutional pressure and administrative interference, she said.

"The people of Karnataka cannot be burdened with a financially ruinous and legally suspect contract merely to advance private interests. Any attempt to shield these irregularities will only deepen public suspicion and further erode confidence in governance, " she said.