B-SMILE Fines Siddhi Shakthi Consultants ₹1 Lakh Over Poor Supervision of Bellary Road Electrical Pole Work
Bengaluru, September 5: Bengaluru Smart Infrastructure Limited (B-SMILE) has imposed a ₹1 lakh penalty on M/s Siddhi Shakthi Consultants Pvt Ltd, formerly M/s NEZ Intratech Private Limited, for negligence in its supervisory responsibilities as Project Management Consultant after inspections found electrical poles installed in violation of prescribed specifications on Bellary Road and construction debris left along the footpath.
The action relates to consultancy services for construction supervision and project management, including property identification, quality control, scrutiny of land acquisition plan schedules and collection of revenue records from other departments for processing Transferable Development Rights (TDR), for the widening of Jayamahal Road from Mekhri Circle to Jayamahal Palace Hotel and Bellary Road from BDA Junction to Mekhri Circle in Bengaluru.
In a letter dated September 4, B-SMILE’s Director (Technical) informed Siddhi Shakthi Consultants that a penalty of ₹1 lakh had been imposed for negligence in carrying out its supervisory responsibilities as the Project Management Consultant.
According to the letter, the Greater Bengaluru Authority Minister, during an inspection of Bellary Road, observed with serious concern that installation of electrical poles was being carried out in violation of the prescribed specifications.
The letter said the spacing between electrical poles was as wide as 20 metres on certain stretches, while at other locations it was irregular and varied between eight and 12 metres. B-SMILE said this indicated a lack of supervision and quality control.
The Minister expressed severe displeasure over what the letter described as callous and substandard execution by the agencies and pulled up supervisory engineers and the Project Management Consultant for negligence and failure to enforce the specifications. He directed officials to fix accountability and take corrective action immediately.
Following this, B-SMILE’s Director (Technical) conducted an inspection on September 3 along with Chief Engineer-01 and Project Engineer-01 of B-SMILE.
During that inspection, officials again observed that the electrical poles had been installed in gross violation of the prescribed specifications, according to the letter.
The inspection also found construction debris strewn along the footpath, causing inconvenience to the public. B-SMILE said these lapses reflected negligence and lack of diligence by Siddhi Shakthi Consultants in carrying out its supervisory responsibilities as the Project Management Consultant.
B-SMILE consequently imposed the ₹1 lakh penalty and warned the consultant that if such lapses continued, it would be constrained to recommend the company’s disqualification from future projects undertaken by B-SMILE.
Siddhi Shakthi Consultants has also been directed to rectify the defects immediately and submit a compliance report to B-SMILE.
The consultancy assignment is linked to the road-widening project covering Jayamahal Road between Mekhri Circle and Jayamahal Palace Hotel and Bellary Road between BDA Junction and Mekhri Circle. The records cited in the letter include an Executive Engineer (Road Infrastructure) tender notification dated October 11, 2021, and an RI-East agreement and work order, both dated August 26, 2022.
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