BMC didn’t complete 58% road works: CAG BMC didn’t complete 58% road works: CAG

THE COMPTROLLER and Auditor General Report (CAG) has observed that the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM), also known as Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, has failed to complete 58 per cent of the road works approved under the city’s 2014 master plan. Despite the unspent funds worth Rs 1,387 crore, the MCGM’s road and traffic department failed to construct and upgrade roads, said the report, which was presented before the Monsoon Session of the Assembly that concluded on Friday.

According to the master plan, 3,358 roads with a total length of 1,246.26 km was scheduled to come up between 2013 and 2016. However, while the target was to build 843.93 km of asphalt roads, only a 397.77-km stretch had been constructed, the CAG said. On the other hand, while 404.33 km of cement concrete roads were to be constructed, a stretch of 129.05 km had come up.

The report added that between 2011 and 2017, while 185 km of cement concrete roads were built, the figure for asphalt roads was 504 km across the island city, western suburbs and eastern suburbs. During this period, Rs 2363.83 crore was spent on building cement concrete roads and Rs 3371.56 crore on asphalt roads. Objecting to the process of handing over road contracts, the report said: “There are instances of road contracts being awarded to those other than the lowest bidder based on the policy of awarding only one or two contracts to a single bidder… this not only violated CVC (Central Vigilance Commission) guidelines but also was not financially beneficial to the MCGM. “

The report stated while the planning cell of the MCGM became operational in 2012, the body only empannelled various consultants for its work. The chief engineer’s office did not have the inventory of roads under MCGM, it added. The CAG also alleged that fraud cannot be ruled out when it comes to the payment made for the transportation of surplus excavated materials.

“The transportation of excavated material was to be done using dumpers. But the use of motorcycles, cars and other passenger vehicles was in violation of tender conditions, besides not being physically feasible.” Further, the report stated that dense bituminous macadam (DBM) used to fill up potholes, transported from the BMC’s Worli plant, to designated depots in every ward, was used late, defeating its purpose. “For regular maintenance of roads in two depots, P South and K West, the audit shows that about 1043.34 metric tonne of DBM was brought from the plant. Of this, 209.45 metric tonne (20 per cent) was used on the same day. The balance of 833.89 metric tonne (80 per cent) was used after two to 47 days, thus badly affecting the road quality, as hardened DBM cannot be used for pot filling or road repair,” it added.

The CAG went on to make five recommendations to the MCGM. These were that the MCGM should avoid awarding of works/attaching additional works without inviting tenders; award tenders in accordance with the prescribed guidelines; come up with a plan to minimise the dependency on private consultants in all stages of road works; streamline the process of transportation of excavated material and ensure proper utilisation of data for better monitoring.

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