Clean Ganga Project Scam: Rs 100 crore scam in clean Ganga project tender in Bengal

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A scam of Rs 100 crore has come to light in the tender of the Clean Ganga Project. The involvement of an engineer from Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority (KMDA) has been found mainly in this. As soon as the allegations surfaced, they were dropped on the minister’s instruction. He was the Superintendent Engineer of the Water and Sanitation Department of KMDA. Authorities have ordered a departmental inquiry against him.

The engineer has been accused of Rs 100 crore tender corruption in the project. It is alleged that he provided tenders to several contractors without any government qualification criteria. The ‘Namami Gange Project’ of the Center has been renamed as ‘Swachh Ganga’ in the state.

The city of Calcutta has several old infrastructure to dump waste water into the Ganges. KMDA has taken the initiative to recreate them through this project. For this, it was decided to build a treatment plant in the municipality around the Ganges. The engineer was in charge of implementing the scheme starting from inviting tenders for him.

Invited tenders without field survey ‘or on-the-spot survey

Allegedly, they invited tenders without any kind of ‘field survey’ or on-the-spot survey. Even the exact method of project implementation was not adopted. Tenders were invited as major projects mentioning only the name of the municipality. However, the state government was of the view that the works should be divided into small categories and tenders should be invited. So that many people get employment. But disregarding government regulations, he hired some specialized contractors.

Financial embezzlement case also pending against a contractor

A financial embezzlement case by the Siliguri Development Board is also pending against a contractor who got the work. Not only this, in the tender process, the signature of a deceased person has also been found valid. Despite all these allegations, the tenders were not canceled. On the contrary, he continued the rest of the project, ignoring the government’s rules. As a result, many workers became unemployed.

The contractors complained to the minister against the engineer

A section of KMDA contractors filed a written complaint against the engineer from Urban Development Minister Firhad Hakim. He also contacted the company’s chief officer Antara Acharya. Thereafter, the KMDA officers removed the Superintendent Engineer of that department. The minister said, “I have directed to take action against the engineer as soon as I receive the complaint.” No corruption of any kind will be tolerated in KMDA.

According to sources, KMDA officials issued a show cause notice to the engineer soon after the minister’s instructions. He has been removed from the responsibility of ‘Namami Gange Project’. At the same time, KMDA has started a departmental inquiry against the engineer. In that case how did the signature of the deceased gain validity in the tender process? It is being verified. KMDA has said that stern action will be taken against the accused engineer as soon as the investigation report is received.