CVC starts probe against DS Constructions
A team of Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) has started probe against DS Constructions (DSC) Limited in the alleged irregularities committed in maintaining the Raipur-Durg expressway that the company had constructed on Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) model.
The company had completed the Rs 95 crore Raipur-Durg Expressway Project, awarded by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), in June 2006. The 27 km long expressway project included the four laning of the existing 2-lane carriageway on the Raipur-Durg section of NH-6 in Chhattisgarh.
While the developer of the project was required to maintain the road till it was transferred, the DSC allegedly failed to do the same in last three years. “The state government sent letters to the company for repairing and maintaining the roads, but it was ignored,” a senior official with Public Works Department (PWD) said.
The department had written about 100 letters to the company during the period. The CVC team that landed here to probe the irregularities collected the copy of letter from PWD superintending engineer S K Kori. The letters contain the details of the works that government suggested to the company from time to time.
The PWD officials said that the CVC team collected samples on the road. After completing the probe, the team members returned to New Delhi on Wednesday night. The outcome of the probe could not be known.
Replying to a query, DSC spokesperson said the technical examiner had been visiting the Raipur-Durg expressway from time to time and the maintenance of the project was an ongoing process and has been carried out by the company since its inception in 2006.
The DSC had been in news for last one month in Chhattisgarh, where it had bagged another contract to develop Raipur-Arang road. The estimated cost of the project is Rs 190 crore.
A proposal to build a toll station in the municipal corporation limits had landed the company in a trouble as people had come out on streets to lodged strong protest against the move.