Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena ordered the Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) to probe into alleged corruption in the de-silting of drains in the Palam Area in the Public Works Department (PWD).
The ACB has been ordered to investigate misuse of public funds to the tune of nearly Rs 80 crore against the PWD officials. The matter involves the de-silting work carried out in the Southwest Road-I and Southwest Road-II Divisions of the PWD in the Palam area, the LG office said on Monday.
The principal secretary to LG has written to the chief secretary conveying about the orders of the Saxena.
The order came in the wake of a complaint dated 11th August addressed to the LG by Advocate Amit Kharkhari, Municipal Councillor of MCD Ward 127, Najafgarh, Delhi, alleging that the officials involved in the project are indulging in serious irregularities, including misuse of public funds, blatant disregard for established tender norms, and other serious corrupt practices.
The complaint alleged that a single contractor, Surender Singh, was unduly favoured and given the contracts for the de-silting of drains in violation of the laid norms and thus caused financial losses to the government.
The complainant named Executive Engineer Ashish Gupta, Junior Engineer Ajay Kumar Meena, and Assistant Engineer Dharam Singh Meena along with the contractor Surender Singh and other PWD employees for being directly involved in the wrongdoings, the LG office said.
“The complaint also points out that, since both the divisions fell under the supervision of high-ranking PWD officials, including Superintending Engineers, Rajpal Shivrain and Shailander Mishra, as well as Chief Engineer, South (M), Manoj Kumar Aggarwal, it is likely that they were aware of such corrupt activities and may have even colluded with the above-mentioned Ex. Engineer and Assistant Engineer to shield them from scrutiny,” it said.