The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) in Jammu is investigating allegations of corruption against Public Works Department (PWD) officials and a contractor involved in a road construction project.
A contractor named Avikash Choudhary allegedly conspired with PWD Division-III Jammu engineers to win the contract for upgrading a road from Lohri Chak to Chakrali.
The complaint alleges that the bid process was rigged. The advertised bill of quantities (BOQ) included a base course material not mentioned in the project design documents (DPR). This supposedly allowed Choudhary to submit unrealistically low bids for other crucial materials like Bitumen Macadam (BM) and reinforcement for RCC work.
The contractor reportedly did not execute the items with the suspiciously low rates, resulting in a significant difference between the tendered amount (Rs. 82,77,500) and the actual amount spent (Rs. 82,775).
Unethical Approvals: The ACB suspects that PWD officials, including the then Executive Engineer Bikram Singh and then Assistant Executive Engineer (AEE) Gurcharan Singh, improperly approved the release of the contractor’s performance security/deposit, which should have been withheld until project completion.
The investigation further suggests that Singh and Singh recommended unauthorized post-facto sanction for a substantial cost increase (Rs. 86,88,925) on the project, exceeding the original allotment (Rs. 1,82,89,075). The Chief Engineer allegedly bypassed regulations by approving this additional cost without inviting fresh tenders.
The ACB suspects that other PWD staff, including draftsmen, might have neglected to raise concerns about the discrepancies in rates, quantities, and adherence to procedures.
