Gurgaon: A decade-old streetlight project in Sohna has led to an FIR against eight municipal officials and three contractors after an inquiry found alleged manipulation of tender rates, inflated payments and installation of lights different from those approved. The bureau alleged that the eight works sanctioned for Rs 4.9 crore led to a loss of nearly Rs 81lakh for the govt.Following a complaint regarding the tendering process, a vigilance inquiry had begun in 2018. The FIR was registered on Sept 9 under IPC sections 406 (criminal breach of trust), 409 (criminal breach of trust by public servant), 420 (cheating) and 120-B (criminal conspiracy) and provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988. It names then chief engineer Devender Singh Bajwa, SDO Vishal Garg, municipal officials Satish Kumar, Ajay Panghal, Sanjay Rohilla, Sandeep Malik, Rajpal and Om Prakash, besides contractors Danveer Yadav, Shobhit Malhotra and Ashok Kumar.The eight projects covered separate stretches across Sohna, including roads from Dr Bhim Rao Ambedkar Chowk towards Tourist Complex, Masjid, Palwal Road, Raghu Nandan Petrol Pump and Chungi No. 1-Aggarsain Chowk, besides other parts of the town.An anti-corruption bureau official said officials prepared separate tender documents for eight projects instead of clubbing the works into a single tender. The inquiry found the lowest bids were about 20%-25% above tender document estimates. The investigators said officials should have cancelled the process and re-tendered the works rather than accepting the rates. They alleged the tender committee negotiated with the contractors and awarded the works at higher rates.The bureau’s technical assessment also found that one in every four lights was non-functional. “The firms had allegedly installed lights of different brands from those approved by the committee. The approved brands included Philips, GE, Bajaj, Crompton and Schneider but lights from brands like Nichia and Osram had been installed,” the official said.Another red flag was the contractors’ licence capacity. The investigation found Bharadwaj Electrical and MM Engineer Associates were allotted works above their Rs 1-crore capacity, while Bharat Pumps Project was awarded a contract lower than its capacity. The assessment put the excess payments on the eight works at amounts ranging from about Rs 2.16 lakh to Rs 18.92 lakh, cumulatively at Rs 80.89 lakh.The inquiry also questioned the tender publicity. The FIR records that the tender was advertised in a local newspaper, bidders were given only three days and when no bid was received, the online deadline was extended without fresh newspaper publicity.The projects were to be completed within three months but investigators said there were no completion certificates available to establish that the work had actually been completed within the stipulated period. The tender also required the contractors to maintain the lights for five years.
