Contractor alleges fraud by officials of Ranjit Sagar Dam in allotment of tender
A Pathankot-based contractor has claimed that Ranjit Sagar Dam (RSD) officials have given a tender for lifting river bed material (RBM) to a firm in gross violation of the norms thereby defrauding the state exchequer of crores of rupees.
Owners of the company M/s Gurbaaz Singh Sidhu claimed that their company had been allotted work on February 29 last year to lift RBM, including gravel, from the RSD premises at the rate of Rs 13.50 per cubic feet (CFT) which was also the reserve price. The tender was for one full year. Subsequently, the company had deposited Rs 3.42 crore in various forms of security with the dam authorities.
RSD floats tenders so that firms can lift RBM from the dam’s premises. Firms then sell same material at a profit to other parties.
Rohandeep Kumar, a spokesman for the company, said even as his tender was yet to complete one year, RSD officials floated another tender which was given to M/s DSF Enterprises which had quoted Rs 5.60 per CFT as the lifting rate. This was much below the reserve price of Rs 13.50 per CFT. He claimed that the authorities concerned violated norms because no firm was allowed to quote a price which was below the reserve price.
“If any company wants to quote below the reserve price, then necessary changes should be made in tender documents. In this case, no change was made in documents,” he maintained.
Sources reveal that by allotting tender below the reserve price, the state exchequer could face a loss running into crores of rupees.
Chief Engineer Sher Singh said there was no question of any firm being given favourable treatment. “Our process of giving the contract is through e-tendering. Everything has been done in a transparent manner. We have not favoured any firm,” he said.
The owners of M/s Gurbaaz Singh Sidhu, however, said that the RSD officials were hand in glove with the firm. “The RSD authorities are clearly under political pressure. The truth to come out through an inquiry. The Department of Water Resources should hold a comprehensive probe to separate the truth from the wrongdoing,” said Rohandeep Kumar.
