BBMP floated 63 fraudulent tenders

Contractors Point Fingers At Officials | House Panel To Investigate Scam

A big fat tender scam has been unearthed in the BBMP books. It involves tenders floated in Hubli, Dharwad and Mysore to lay roads in Malleswaram and other parts of Bangalore. It has nothing to do with being transparent; at stake is Rs 1,539 crore or even more, to favour contractors recommended by politicians and avoid regular, competitive bidding. 

    

The Tender Vigilance Committee report on BBMP’s civic works in Malleswaram, RR Nagar and Gandhi Nagar constituencies has revealed that of 65 tenders called between 2008 and 2010, 63 were ‘collusive, fraudulent bids’. Contractors and officials involved in the scam have not even recorded the tender opening register. Not just that, bills were cleared by BBMP without testing the quality of construction material used for work on footpaths, drains and roads. 
    

A week ago, BBMP commissioner Siddaiah referred the case to the Bangalore Metropolitan Task Force (BMTF). Soon after, the Contractors’ Association wrote to the commissioner, saying officials are equally involved in the scam. ‘‘Besides, the Contractors’ Association will not come in the way when BBMP initiates action against the contractors involved. It's not a mere Rs 1,539 crore, the scam is to the tune of Rs 5,000 crore,’’ said GA Srinivas, president of the association. 

A HOST OF IRREGULARITIES The report throws light on the fact that the files did not have the road history, a crucial component to showcase what works were taken up on the same, expenditure of the project and the outcome. As per rules, studying the road history is mandatory before finalizing even the necessity to take up new work on the stretch.

    

The public works department code says that before bill payment for any work, officials must issue a ‘completion certificate’ after thoroughly scrutinizing the work and certify whether it matches the need. The TVC report, a copy of which is with TOI, states the files did not have the mandatory completion certificates. 

HOUSE PANEL TAKES OVER Though the commissioner referred the case to BMTF, the ruling party took objection as the decision was taken by Siddaiah in the absence of mayor R Sharadamma, who was on a trip to the US. After she returned to the Palike four days ago, ruling party leaders decided to form a house committee to probe the case and not give it to BMTF. 
   

“The formation of a house committee is just to hush up the case. The TVC report recommends the case be handed over to the Lokayukta,” said a senior BBMP official.