Nagpur: Following the damning report on the incomplete and shoddy work on cement road on the VIP Road patch near IndusInd Bank in Ramdaspeth, Adv Akshay Samarth has demanded a high-level enquiry into the corruption in construction of the cement road and non-payment of bill to the contractor.
According to Adv Samarth, a written complaint regarding corruption and low quality construction of cement road patch between Kachipura Square (Agriculture Hostel Square) and Alankar Square on the VIP Road was submitted to the Administrator and Municipal Commissioner.
“The cement road was to be completed in 15 months after issuance of work order. But even after the period of 45 months, the construction is still incomplete. The construction is not being done in accordance with the terms and conditions of the work order. Subsequently, people are facing tremendous hardships. The contractor concerned has negligently piled up cement blocks in the middle of the road and has opened the road for public at large. The move has been causing utter traffic chaos on the road and has turned an accident-prone spot. Commuters shudder to traverse on the patch of the road at any given time, particularly in the night hours. People have urged the Nagpur Municipal Corporation to take stern action against this contractor for causing accidents due to negligence and cancel his contract by forfeiting the security amount of the contractor,” Adv Samarth said.
The lawyer further said that he had submitted an application under Right to Information Act 2005 and had sought details of legal action taken against the contractor, terms and conditions of tender and inspection of quality of the cement road. But the NMC has not provided any information till to date. Subsequent to enquiry at Zone Office, it has come to the fore that the file of the work has been sent to Accounts Section for payment of contractor’s bill. “The NMC deliberately avoided giving information under RTI in order to facilitate payment of the contractor’s bill,” charged the lawyer. “Unless an enquiry into the corruption in the construction of the cement road is done and the guilty contractor punished, no bill should be cleared and no payment should be done to the contractor,” Adv Samarth demanded.
The delegation which submitted the written complaint to Additional Municipal Commissioner Ram Joshi comprised residents of Ramdaspeth and Kachipura and was led by Adv Akshay Samarth, National Convener of Rajiv Gandhi Panchayati Raj Sangathan (All India Congress Committee).