At least 20 contracts related to the supply of materials to the Commonwealth Games venues are being scrutinised by the revenue intelligence agencies as well as other probe agencies.
Available reports with the probe agencies confirm that “technical criteria” as well as the list of “approved vendors” have been blatantly violated by the Organising Committee of Games, headed by Suresh Kalmadi, and other construction agencies.
Sources said that the estimated budget of Rs 1,000 crores for upgradation and construction of five stadia crossed the limit of Rs 2,460 crores, which has forced agencies to scan the documents pertaining to the contracts awarded to various contractors by the OC and other agencies concerned, sources said. The agencies have also decided to question certain private contractors in this regard.
“Initial probe has revealed large scale irregularities in at least 20 contracts. Probe agencies have also found that, in certain cases, vendors to supply the equipment were chosen according to preferences of the OC members and construction agencies, while the list of approved vendors was overlooked”, sources said. The circumstances under which the government was forced to make an extra payment of almost Rs 1,460 crores needs to be probed, sources added.
Apart from the construction of stadia, 15 other projects, including flyover at Shastri Nagar (East Delhi), elevated road from Sarai Kale Khan to Jawahar Lal Nehru Stadium, grade separator in Ghazipur, flyover at Naraina-T point, covering of the Sunehari nullaha, construction of CWG village and upgradation of Shivaji stadiums are also under the scanner of the probe agencies. Besides, the CBI is also probing works awarded by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) for upgradation of street lights in the city for the games. The CBI has also registered a case against four MCD officials in this regard.
However, CBI said the case was not registered in connection with the Commonwealth Games.
“During the initial probe, the agencies conducted sample tests of certain construction projects. Twelve samples failed to meet the 28-day strength test, although seven-day samples were shown to achieve high strength”, sources said.
A lot of deviations have been detected from the approved scheme of the government without obtaining the approval of the competent authority. Specially, there has been deviation in the height of the poles leading to benefit of the private agencies and costing the government an extra Rs 1.13 crore. Sources said that at many places the poles of 12-metre height (agreement rate of Rs 28,358 per unit) have been used as 10-metre high poles (for which the agreement rate was Rs 28,974 per unit) by installing them in deeper pits.
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‘PM must intervene’
AGE CORRESPONDENT
New Delhi
Aug. 3: In the wake of allegations of corruption and mismanagement in the preparations for Commonwealth Games, the main Opposition BJP on Tuesday demanded that sports minister M.S. Gill and Organising Committee chief Suresh Kalmadi be divested of their responsibilities. The party also demanded Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to intervene in the matter.