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The Prime Minister’s Office has referred the Shunglu Committee findings on alleged irregularities in executing various infrastructure projects related to Commonwealth Games by the Delhi Government to the Home Ministry for further action.
Sources said the PMO has asked the Home Ministry to send its reply on the queries raised by the Shunglu panel on the work done by the city government controlled departments.
In its third report on projects to upgrade city infrastructure, especially related to road and transport, the committee has noted there was no special preparation by the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (GNCTD) and blamed the Delhi Chief Minister, Ms Sheila Dikshit, for her decisions that led to cost escalation in CWG related projects.
“All projects require a host of preparatory actions before the start of the project on ground...These actions have to be initiated well in advance as they take considerably long time... the work should have started during the year 2005-06,” the report said.
The report said that there was “no special preparation by GNCTD despite constrained timeframe”. It said that unfair cost advantage was given to contractors due to compressed timeframe and noted indication of “collusive bidding” by tenders floated by the Public Works Department (PWD).
According to a conservative estimate by the panel, works worth over Rs 5,500 crore were carried out by GNCTD, a majority of which — about 75 per cent — were executed by PWD.
The major projects handled by PWD, apart from three games & training venues (Thyagaraj, Chhatrasal and Ludlow Castle), included Barapullah elevated corridor, Ring Road Bypass, UP Link Road, Streetscaping, Street Lighting, Signage and 21 flyovers.
While Munak lined drain was the main project handled by Delhi Jal Board, the Delhi Transport Corporation, besides acquiring buses, had constructed weight bus depots and Bus Q shelters across the national capital.
The High Level Committee has held the Delhi Chief Minister responsible for delay in the projects which resulted in high cost.
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