The Pioneer, Oct 23, 2010
BIKASH KHEMKA | BHAWANIPATNA
The introduction of e-tender by the ruling BJD Government appears to have failed to bring transparency as the tender-fixing in various works have been a habitual practice in Kalahandi allegedly under the nose of the Government officials in connivance with the contractors.
On the other hand, the roads, canals, bridges and culverts easily get damaged in minor rainfall let alone the heavy and incessant downpour due to sub-standard works while the gullible public is taken for a ride as a part of regular phenomenon in the district here.
Even petty contractors have become crorepatis after handling contract works in the Indravati Project and PMGSY in the last couple of years.
The contractors work without any fear of punishment as they allegedly grease the palms of the big shots and both the ruling and opposition leaders every year.
Once the fixed commission-money exchanges hands, the contractors give a damn to the public property.
In the recent bidding of the Indravati Project, large scale irregularities have been alleged in the awarding of contract works. In the Left Canal Division (LCD-3), Dharmagarh Division, eighteen contractors had filed their bids on four contract works amounting to`8.71 crore and accordingly, the EMD money was sent through e-filing with the scanned copies of the demand draft on October 12 deadline and the bids were opened on October 20.
While six contractors had filed their `1.79 crore bid, five had of `1.71 crore, three of `2.44 crore and four of `2.80 crore.
On 18 and 19, the documents were to be verified by the officials, but as they did not produce the EMD-money demand draft physically, their biddings were reportedly cancelled while two contractors allegedly produced their demand draft as EMD money and got four tenders after verification of all the documents on 20.
Sources confided, other contractors and high level officials allegedly got a large amount of money from the contractor duo having become the single bidder in the entire e-tender system, otherwise dubbed as tender fixing, but officially they produced that the eighteen contractors had given their bids.
The same process has reportedly been followed in the e-tender of Lower Indra Project near Raj-Khariar of Nuapada where the tender papers were dropped on October 16 amounting to `55 crore and bids were opened on 21.
As Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik holds the Water Resources portfolio, locals here have demanded high level enquiry into the recent bidding in Kalahandi and Nuapada.
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