Workorder for one, bill payment for another

 BBMP: Crore payment for work not done in solid waste management

 Workorder for one, bill payment for another

Kere Manjunath ಕೆರೆ ಮಂಜುನಾಥ್

 BENGALURU: Although new contractors have been given work orders for solid waste collection and disposal, supply orders have been given to old contractors and bills amounting to crores of rupees have been illegally paid.

 In the office of Assistant Executive Engineer (AEE) of BBMP Solid Waste Management Vijayanagara Division, the work order was given to one and the bill was paid to the other. Irregularities of ₹2.95 crore in this regard have been revealed in the 2021-22 Annual Report of the Auditor General of BBMP.

 The tender process for solid waste management in wards 132, 133, 157 and 158 in Vijayanagara Division has been completed and the work order has been issued. AEE has issued a 'notice letter' to the old contractor saying that they have not started the work. There is a gap of two to six months between assignments and instruction dates. The new contractors were getting leases for 20% to 40% less than the old contractors. However, old contractors like Be Clean Be Healthy, V.R. Enterprises, Pradeep R. Enterprises, Santhosh Kumar Enterprises, had been paid ₹1.69 crore for disposal of waste through supply orders, allowing financial loss, the complaint said.

 Annapurneswari Associates, Shishir Associates, Vishwas Enterprises were given the work order for collection and transportation of solid waste. Apart from these original contractors, Lakshmi Enterprises, Uday Kiran Enterprises, Varshini Kiran Enterprises were paid ₹1.25 crore.

16% i.e. ₹ 1.71 crore has been paid in the AEE office of the solid waste management department of Dasarhalli zone for additional staff attendance in solid waste management. The auditors objected to this amount as records of additional staff attendance and payment of wages were not available.

 Illegal everywhere in solid waste management!

•  * 13 DC bill for supply of human resource and machinery in AEE office of Yalahanka Division. ₹25.22 lakh has been paid through DC bills and there is no record of work being done.
•  * Deficiencies were found in vehicle fuel cost and maintenance in the AEE office of Dasarahalli zone and the rules of KTPP Act were violated by not inviting tenders. ₹16.48 lakh paid through quotation.
•  * A 500 KVA high tension line was connected without properly estimating the power demand in the AEE office of Dasarhalli zone. 85% was not used. This resulted in an unnecessary expenditure of ₹11.51 lakh.
•  * Although there is an order to change the lorries to compactor vehicles for solid waste management and disposal in AEE office of Yelahanka Division, tipper lorries have been paid ₹9.85 lakh.
•  * In the AEE office of Chikkapet division, a vehicle which gives a mileage of three km per liter of fuel has traveled and the amount of fuel has been shown less in the log book. The head of the department paid the bill without raising any objection, resulting in a loss of ₹6.61 lakh.