Excess payment of Rs 5.30 crore detected in civic body project

Faridabad, April 29

In a case of alleged irregularities in the preparation of bills, an excess payment to the tune of Rs 5.30 crore has been found to have been made to a contractor while the project is yet to be completed.

The authorities have issued a notice to the contractor and have initiated a probe in this regard. The project, costing around Rs 25 crore, was taken up in 2020-21 under the Amrut scheme financed by the Union Government.

Sources said though the project was claimed to be complete early this year, the authorities found deficiencies in it when officials took stock of the work done on ground and found that the pipeline project was still short of completion, while the funds for the project had got exhausted and the contractor had been released the payment.”

No wrongdoing in matter

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There is no corruption or scam in the matter. We are trying to find the point or the cause from where the miscalculation took place and what was the reason behind the difference in the official rates and those charged in the bills. —Birender Kardam, Chief engineer, MC

It was revealed that the drain completed on ground was only around 2-km-long against the total length of about 2.5-km. As the matter was brought to the notice of the authorities, an inquiry revealed that there was some miscalculation in the payment, as the rates on which the bills were prepared and released were more than the official rates of the state government and it was found that the contractor had been made an excess payment of Rs 5,30,30,175, while the work was still incomplete.

Chief Engineer, MCF, Birender Kardam, who was handed over the probe issued a memorandum to all officials in whose tenure the bills were passed to join the inquiry on February 20, 2023. As it mentioned that the final measurement of the work had found an excess payment, the officials of the MCF were directed to appear before the committee. However, it was revealed that the report of the probe was yet to be finalised.

“We are trying to find the point or the cause from where the miscalculation took place and what was the reason behind the difference in the official rates and the rates charged in the bills,” said Birender Kardam. Ruling out any corruption or scam, he said the excess payment had perhaps taken place due to miscalculation or due to some clerical mistake. He said while a notice had been issued to the contractor to complete the pending work, the matter had also been brought to the notice of the authorities of the Urban Local Bodies Department.