Stink from Northeast Frontier, Part-2

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The project was originally scheduled for completion in March, 2020 with an estimated budget of approximately ₹500 crore. The cost has now escalated to ₹1,000+ crore, resulting in a significant misuse of public funds

Modus Operandi:

The #ProjectManager, Mr. #RamanSingla, GM/Civil IRCON, deliberately divided the #Construction-work into number of smaller packages, which allowed him to engage local #contractors by inviting #tenders valued below ₹50 lakh. This approach served two primary purposes.

  • First, it enabled him to grant local contractors credentials for #Railway-works, which is suspected to have strong element of quid pro quo.
  • Second, once the #tender was awarded, he negotiated with the contractors and sanctioned several non-scheduled items during the construction phase, which were not initially part of the Bill of Quantities (#BoQ). This practice considerably inflated the #contract-value. This approach was intentional, as tenders of smaller amounts often evade the attention of #Vigilance authorities.

Evidence, through local contacts, our source has come to learn about one such contractor, Mr. #TutonGhosh, who was awarded two of the works mentioned above. Until recently, Mr. #Ghosh was working as a supervisor for M/s #EPIL in Agartala-Akhaura Project. It is quite surprising that he has now become an independent contractor, and without having any past #civil works experience, his agency has been awarded contracts worth approximately ₹2.30 crore.

Similarly, M/s #MrinalSanjeeb, known primarily for supplying #aggregates and #sand in #Agartala, was awarded the contract for #ballast supply, despite having no prior experience in providing ballast to #IndianRailways. Such malpractices have contributed to the substandard #quality of the work.

If one closely reviews the tender details available on the Government eProcurement System, one will notice that M/s Tuton Ghosh was also invited by the Tender Inviting Authority (#TIA) to participate in the limited tender for ballast supply. This raises the question as to why the tender for the spur line and ballast supply was not consolidated into a single package, because the ballast was to be supplied over the spur line only. The only logical conclusion is that the work was deliberately split, to allow both agencies to participate, and the award of these tenders were also pre-determined to enable these agencies to obtain credentials for Railway works.

Impact of Malpractices

These facts strongly indicate that the agencies involved lacked the expertise required to execute the works, resulting in poor quality and delays,

  1. According to sources, Ground Improvement using Prefabricated Vertical Drains (#PVD) was implemented at the #Nischintpur (#NSTP) yard. However, the design specifications were not fully adhered to, which led to significant settlement of the filled-up soil, approximately 2 to 3 meters in entire #NTCP Yard.
  2. This settlement is clearly evident in the yard’s track works, which has been repaired at least three separate occasions over the last three years. The settlement has been recouped with excess ballast, leading to a ballast cushioning layer exceeding 350 mm, with some locations having ballast as thick as 1.0 meter also. This is a significant #wastage of public funds, as stone ballast is roughly 30 times more expensive than soil or sand.
  3. Last year one of associate buildings was also dismantled, and reconstructed due very large cracks, that were developed throughout the building.
  4. Several #Building repairs are still ongoing for last two years.
  5. Similarly, the approach roads have undergone repairs work twice in the last three years.
  6. During the investigation local residents, confirmed the substandard quality of work. In fact, few engineers were reportedly assaulted by locals, as poor construction practices led to flood-like situation in the area.

The #project was originally scheduled for #completion in March 2020 with an estimated budget of approximately ₹500 crore. The cost has now escalated to ₹1,000+ crore, resulting in a significant misuse of public funds. Despite ₹900 crore already being spent over the past seven years, the project remains #incomplete and is yet to made operational for public use.

Given that this project is an International Connectivity Project, Funded by Ministry of #DoNER and #MEA it is particularly alarming that the due process of tendering was not adhered to, undermining the #transparency and competitive participation that online tendering is meant to ensure.

Accountability?

Our source reports that Mr. Raman Singla has now left #IRCON and joined #RVNL. A serious question must be asked to #RVNL regarding how an officer with such a questionable record and doubtful #integrity was allowed to join without proper background verification? Furthermore, it is also concerning that how IRCON remained unaware of such significant malpractices within its projects, and Mr. #Singla was neither held #accountable nor faced any #disciplinary action before his departure.

Experts further that while projects get handed over by construction companies to railways, such tender case files do not get handed over creating very ‘convenient’ way to destroy #evidence trail.

How very convenient! The veterans like vigilance #Trimurti who continue to be the darlings of #Mantriji, are very adept at mechanisms.