4 key projects scrapped in Ambala, 3 more face similar fate

There is a further delay in the completion of several major projects of the PWD (B&R) in Ambala. After the termination of agreements of four major projects by the department, three more projects — War Heroes Memorial Stadium, VLDA college and science museum — are expected to meet the same fate.

The projects have been hanging fire due to continuous delay in construction and litigations with the construction firm.

The agreements of the Civil Hospital extension building, residential quarters for doctors, a government women’s college building and Mini- Secretariat building were terminated last year. An official said since all the projects were being handled by the same contractor, delays in work followed by penalties, litigations and arbitration led to further delay.

Executive Engineer PWD (B&R) Ritesh Aggarwal said, “The agreements of four projects have been terminated following continuous delay in the projects, and the assessment of the balance work is being done by a committee, which is expected to submit its report soon. Reports regarding three other projects have been sent to the headquarters for action. The retendering process of the projects will be initiated after the assessment of work. All efforts are being made to get the projects completed at the earliest.” While the department is busy assessing the balance work for retendering, local leaders are seeking a high-level probe into the delayed projects.

Congress leader Rohit Jain said, “The termination of agreement and retendering is not the solution because a lot of public money is involved. Due to the delay, the constructed portion of the buildings is also in a poor condition because it remained waterlogged for long during heavy rains. The government should order a high-level inquiry, fix responsibility for the delay and take strict action. Besides taking action against the contractor and the officials concerned, political connections should also be investigated.”

Local leader Chitra Sarwara said, “The projects have been hanging fire due to corrupt practices. We have been raising the matter of pending projects and requesting the government to get investigations done in each project but there has been no response. All these were multi-crore projects and they have missed deadlines multiple times. Due to the delay, the cost of the projects have escalated. Excess payments were made and the quality of the work done is not satisfactory. The government should constitute an SIT.”