Bhubaneswar: The Accountant General (AG) has found additional expenditure of Rs 48.28 crore in execution of rail over bridge (ROB) and road projects due to technical faults by the works department.
Deputy accountant general of Odisha has written two letters to works secretary seeking comments on the findings of the auditor. The findings are proposed to be included in the report of the Comptroller & Auditor General of India (CAG) for the year 2019-20.
The AG, in its letter, said an extra cost of `36.68 crore was made for the ROB project at Kudiary near Jatni between Retanga and Khurda Road stations while technical faults in road projects led to extra cost of `11.60 crore to the state exchequer.
There was laxity during the primary survey ahead of construction of the ROB leading to abandonment of work. This called for a revision of the design and drawings causing an extra cost of Rs 36.68 crore, the auditor said in its letter.
The ROB project was technically sanctioned in September 2014 and the contract was awarded at a cost of Rs 38.35 crore in July 2015 for completion by July 2017.
The contractor did not expedite the work despite repeated instructions from the executive engineer. It carried out only earthwork, sand filling, cast-in-situ piles, among others, that added up to `10.80 crore (28 per cent of the contract price). It was abandoned in March 2018. The leftover work was assessed at `27.55 crore.
As per the audit report, original detailed project report (DPR) was technically sanctioned with provision of four spans of 37.24 metre length and nine spans of 37 .24 metre length with an approach road from Khurda and Pipili sides respectively.
The technical sanction for the project was based on the certificate of the executive engineer and superintendent engineer. However, due to their faulty survey, traffic jam and road blocks occurred in the site. The reason for abandonment of the work was attributed to political interference to shift the approach landing from Sitaram Chhak junction due to heavy traffic density, the auditor stated.
