GURUGRAM: Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth. But when you’ve paid Rs 7 crore for a project, make sure you look as deep as you can, infrastructure officials in Gurugram are learning the hard way.
A 200-metre-long sewer pipeline at IFFCO Chowk was supposed to be shifted before the construction of a flyover at the junction. Though the pipeline was never relocated, the project’s contractor got Rs 7 crore for the work— a payment that was purportedly cleared after a sub-divisional officer certified the completion.
Work on the flyover project began in 2017 and was completed in 2019. The payment was cleared in 2019.
Now, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and the Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) are blaming each other for the lapse.
The NHAI executed a Rs 2,000-crore project to construct underpasses and flyovers at IFFCO Chowk, Signature Towers crossing and Rajiv Chowk to decongest the Delhi-Gurugram expressway. The execution of the project also necessitated the shifting of utilities — sewerage, water pipelines and stormwater drains. The GMDA was supposed to certify the completion of work related to the utilities.
At IFFCO Chowk, the sewer pipeline in question was supposed to be shifted from the main carriageway to the green belt along the road. The contractor was paid by NHAI after the SDO put his signature on the bill, TOI has learnt.
This came to light when the GMDA started probing the collapse of the retaining wall of the flyover…
A 200-metre-long sewer pipeline at IFFCO Chowk was supposed to be shifted before the construction of a flyover at the junction. Though the pipeline was never relocated, the project’s contractor got Rs 7 crore for the work— a payment that was purportedly cleared after a sub-divisional officer certified the completion.
Work on the flyover project began in 2017 and was completed in 2019. The payment was cleared in 2019.
Now, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and the Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) are blaming each other for the lapse.
The NHAI executed a Rs 2,000-crore project to construct underpasses and flyovers at IFFCO Chowk, Signature Towers crossing and Rajiv Chowk to decongest the Delhi-Gurugram expressway. The execution of the project also necessitated the shifting of utilities — sewerage, water pipelines and stormwater drains. The GMDA was supposed to certify the completion of work related to the utilities.
At IFFCO Chowk, the sewer pipeline in question was supposed to be shifted from the main carriageway to the green belt along the road. The contractor was paid by NHAI after the SDO put his signature on the bill, TOI has learnt.
This came to light when the GMDA started probing the collapse of the retaining wall of the flyover…
