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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Poor quality, high cost mar CWG projects: CVC by Himanshi Dhawan

Poor quality, high cost mar CWG projects: CVC by Himanshi Dhawan

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published Published on Nov 29, 2010   modified Modified on Nov 29, 2010

Each of the 18 samples of concrete cubes from the Shivaji Stadium site failed the test for required strength. The sample strength was 60%-85% less than the expected standard, raising questions on structural safety.

* The tendered cost for Naraina flyover was 48% higher than the estimated cost. While cost overruns were double in the case of the road underbridge at Sewa Nagar.

* Targets were revised, penalties waived for the contractor responsible for the Ring Road Bypass from Salimgarh Fort to Velodrome Road, raising questions on financial and procedural lapses.

NEW DELHI: These examples of technical, financial and procedural lapses are just the tip of the iceberg. A detailed technical examination of 10 Commonwealth Games projects - five stadia, the Games Village and five road and flyover projects - by Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) confirmed what its preliminary reports indicated a couple of months ago.

The preliminary reports - brushed aside by executing agencies like Delhi government as inconsquential - had
indicated how the CWG preparations had been bungled and raised the possibility of corruption on a massive scale.

The construction works related to stadia as well as other aspects under the scanner of the anti-corruption watchdog were implemented by agencies like PWD, NDMC, MCD and DDA.

Nearly all projects have been tagged for poor quality construction work, cost overruns, rigged tenders and little or no monitoring by a third party agency for quality control. The lack of oversight only highlights how vulnerable the projects were to mismanagement with substandard work pointing to corruption.

According to an internal investigation report compiled after inspecting the Games stadia, the Commission has noted "wrong justification" of rates while procuring items which seems to have translated into poor quality of construction, contracts awarded to ineligible firms, payment of crores for non-existent items and use of inferior products. The reports, accessed by ToI, are part of a police complaint filed by an activist-led group, India Against Corruption.

Worryingly, among discrepancies pointed out repeatedly by CVC in several projects includes structural safety. For instance, about 14 of the 15 samples of concrete cubes used for the construction of Talkatora Stadium failed the compressive strength test just as all 18 samples taken from Shivaji Stadium did.

On cost overruns, nearly all projects were tendered at a higher cost than estimated. The construction of indoor stadium for badminton and squash for at the Siri Fort Sports Complex was given to S B E Billimoria and Company Ltd at 30.75% above estimated cost of Rs 118.08 crore.

The elevated road above Barapulla Nullah - built at a frantic pace - was tendered at Rs 81 crore more than the estimated cost. There were no monthly reports submitted by an independent quality control team either.

According to the report, discrepancies were also found in construction of the road underbridge at Sewa Nagar and Ring Road Bypass from Salimgarh Fort to Velodrome Road by MCD at Rs 20.75 crore and Rs 214.73 crore, respectively.


The Times of India, 30 November, 2010, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Poor-quality-high-cost-mar-CWG-projects-CVC/articleshow/7012105.cms


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