CM’s Technical Adviser takes samples of newly-built Chheharta-Dhand road

Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann’s Technical Adviser conducted inspection of the 10.5-km-long road stretch from Chheharta Chowk to Dhand village and took samples of the material used in relaying the road here on Wednesday. The inspection was conducted after a complaint by a local resident of substandard material used in the road. The quality inspection of the road was carried out by Chief Minister’s Technical Adviser Vinod Chawla.

Suresh Kumar Sharma, a complainant in the case, said the technical details about the road was obtained under the Right to Information (RTI) Act, indicating possible irregularities committed while constructing the road.

Suresh Kumar Sharma said the Punjab Mandi Board had awarded the road construction contract to a private firm for Rs 7.89 crore with a 0.85% less. The project was scheduled to be completed within nine months. However, Sharma alleged that discrepancies surfaced regarding the construction specifications. As per the contract, the road was to have a layer of 50 mm to 70 mm dense bituminous macadam (BM), followed by a 30 mm to 45 mm layer of bituminous concrete. “The contractor, in alleged connivance with officials, constructed about half of the road using only bituminous concrete while passed bills for the full layers of dense bituminous macadam,” said Sharma.

The quality inspection of the road was carried out by Vinod Chawla, Technical Adviser to the CM at Chheharta on Wednesday. Sharma said the findings of this inspection would soon be made public through an RTI disclosure. He has written to the Punjab Vigilance Bureau and the Governor of Punjab, demanding a thorough Vigilance inquiry into the matter. He confirmed that a VB inspection is imminent. “I have written to the Punjab Governor to give time to discuss the issue as we want that government recover its financial loss from the firm, caused due to the irregularities committed,” he added.