In a startling development, officials of the Panipat Municipal Corporation (MC) extended sanitation contracts for over 18 months, despite the cancellation of tenders tainted by a multi-crore scam. The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) had earlier registered a criminal case against 12 MC officials and contractors linked to irregularities in the allotment and extension of these contracts.

According to ACB findings, tenders awarded to Pooja Consultations and IND Sanitation Solutions in May 2022 — after dividing the city into four zones — were originally scheduled to end in May 2024. However, the MC extended these contracts three times, most recently up to December 2025, without inviting fresh tenders.

The ACB inquiry revealed that MC officials had a long-standing pattern of favouring these companies, extending beyond the current contract period. Between May 2018 and May 2022, Pooja Consultations handled sewage cleaning, and the contract value was increased by expanding the workforce from 100 to 150 employees. “The MC was supposed to monitor the work, but no official records or inspection reports were found,” said the ACB report.

From January 2019 to May 2022, the same company was also assigned night cleaning in city markets. While the then Commissioner had instructed officials to submit daily inspection reports, no such records were available.

The situation was similar with IND Sanitation Solutions, which took over the sanitation contract of sectors initially managed by Parvati Enterprises, a firm awarded the job by the Haryana Shehri Vikas Pradhikaran (HSVP) in July 2016. After Parvati Enterprises merged with IND Sanitation in August 2020, the MC imposed fines seven times between November 2020 and March 2022 for service deficiencies.

Despite repeated violations, the contract amount was hiked by 5% annually, bypassing tender clauses that permitted escalation only upon satisfactory performance — another violation cited in the FIR filed by the ACB.

Contracts worth Rs 3.54 crore were officially allotted on May 13, 2022, for a two-year period. But even after their expiry in May 2024, the firms continued to operate. The ACB has estimated a revenue loss of over Rs 15.84 crore in just two years.

Insiders revealed that while the Commissioner had proposed new tenders in August 2023, no action was taken. The contracts were first extended by a month, then for five months, and eventually for a full year up to December 2025, raising concerns over governance and accountability.