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The ?powerful? bag tenders!
PUBLIC WORKS Department has become a grazing ground of criminals and the so-called politicians who have somehow managed to grab public offices but are actually engaged in the fulfilment of their selfish interests and scuttling criminal cases against them.
PUBLIC WORKS Department has become a grazing ground of criminals and the so-called politicians who have somehow managed to grab public offices but are actually engaged in the fulfilment of their selfish interests and scuttling criminal cases against them.
Presence of gun-totting criminals inside Safari vehicles outside the gate of the department right opposite the SSP's office on any tender day substantiates the allegations of a number of old contractors whose existence is threatened by the criminal elements.
The situation is alleged to have worsened to such an extent that tender forms for works worth around Rs 15 crore were distributed from the house of a legislator to a select few the other day.
When some PWD engineers realised that the media has come to know about it, they in a huff, gave acceptance to nearly all the tenders the same day despite the fact that in practice acceptance takes not less than 48 hours.
This is not the end. Many tenders were being accepted without any advertisement in the newspapers and the same were being sold out only from one district instead of three as per rules.
While these allegations are being levelled by a number of old contractors of the PWD department insiders have come out with many more irregularities attached to the sale of tenders and the subsequent work which is carried out by the department.
On Tuesday the department was to receive nearly 435 tenders the work against which are to be carried out in Bara and Karchana/Meja areas.
Bara area had been allotted work worth around Rs 15 crore while share of Karchana/ Meja is confined to nearly Rs 10 crore.
Several contractors have alleged that tender forms for works in Bara were distributed from the house of a legislator while work belonging to Karchana/ Meja went into the kitty of another politician's men on Tuesday.
Work of transportation of pontoons from Telaghat near Baraut upto Naini for the Ardh Kumbh fair was being carried out hurriedly by a contractor close to the corridors of power without the mandatory tender.
Sources said, in-depth inquiry by some other agency into these allegations would prove connivance of several departmental engineers who manipulate files in a manner that makes everything appear genuine.
On being contacted PWD Superintending Engineer Sushil Kumar admitted that there were some discrepancies but added that those who had complained could come to him.
He, however, denied that tender forms were distributed from the house of a legislator despite vociferous allegations levelled by a number of contractors.
