After Commissioner Gaurav Gupta’s nod to the Rs 270-crore pothole filling tender, Administrator Rakesh Singh had okayed the file. But the process has been halted following TheBengaluruLive’s exposé
BENGALURU:
Following TheBengaluruLive‘s story on how a ‘Fortuner car turns ‘tipper’ to bag Rs 270-crore tender for pothole filling in Bengaluru!’, Rakesh Singh, Additional Chief Secretary in the Urban Development Department, who is also the BBMP Administrator, has ordered an inquiry into the controversial tender by the TVCC (Technical Vigilance Cell under the Commissioner).
Singh said that after the issue was brought to his notice, he had ordered an inquiry through the TVCC and the Chief Commissioner had been directed to issue the inquiry order.
Also Read: Fortuner car turns ‘tipper’ to bag Rs 270-crore tender for pothole-filling in Bengaluru! https://thebengalurulive.com/fortuner-car-turns-tipper-to-bag-rs-270-crore-tender-for-pothole-filling-in-bengaluru/
In fact, Singh had on Wednesday, May 26, approved the file pertaining to the successful bid for the contract to operate and maintain the hot-mix plant at Kannur village. But before the file could be directed by the council section (the forwarding section) to the concerned engineer’s office, Singh was tipped off that a fraud had taken place in the tendering process and directed his staff to stop the movement of the file.
Directive to Gupta
Subsequently, Singh called Chief Commissioner Gaurav Gupta and directed him to issue an inquiry order to find the culprit and initiate action.
Singh told TheBengaluruLive that he had stopped the file movement and had directed an inquiry. “The intention is to find the culprit and punish him,” he said.
Meanwhile, Chief Commissioner Gaurav Gupta later in the evening issued an inquiry order through the TVCC which works directly under him.
The order, referring to a report published in vernacular daily ‘Prajavani’, which had questioned the integrity of the tendering process, has tasked the TVCC with verifying the facts of the matter. Gupta has directed the TVCC to submit its report within three days.
