BOMBAY, 21 April 2006 — The Democratic Front government in Maharashtra has come under intense fire from the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) for poor planning in executing the Bombay-Pune Expressway.
Terming it as a highway robbery, the CAG in its annual report for the year ended March 31, 2006, said that the mechanical mechanisms were deficient at all levels, a detailed project report had also not been prepared, the sensitivity analysis and the exercise essential to ascertain project feasibility was also not carried out at the start of the execution of the project, and the procedure adopted for award of construction works by restricting one package to one party deprived the benefit of the best price through competitive bids.
Taking review of the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation Limited (MSRDC), the CAG said that there was a lack of transparency in the award of consultancy contracts and there were several deficiencies in the toll collection-cum-maintenance contract, which were detrimental to the company.
The MSRDC incurred extra expenditure of 400 millions rupees due to irregular award of construction works and 110 millions rupees due to irregular allotment of consultancy contracts, the CAG report said.
The CAG report further stated that several deficiencies were also detected in the execution of work and in certification and measurement of work. The method adopted for award of toll collection contract was inappropriate, deviated from normal procedure and was prone to misdeclaration of toll collected.
A Public Works Department (PWD) official speaking on the CAG report concurred with the findings and said that before implementing a project, it is mandatory to prepare a detailed project report and sensitivity analysis, draw a firm cash flow plan, dispense with the practice of restricting one package to one bidder, put in place reliable mechanism to ensure correct recording of measurement of work done and take special care in drawing up agreements for toll collection contracts. All these factors were overlooked in the loot and scoot program of the Bombay-Pune Expressway, the official said.
