Patiala, October 21: The district administration has started investigating the role of executive officers who were deputed at the MC, Nabha, in the issuance of a ‘faulty’ road re-carpeting tender.
The administration has directed the contractor to restore the road to its former condition at his own expense after an FIR was registered against him. The FIR was filed because he had dismantled Nabha’s cinema road in violation of the Deputy Commissioner’s status quo orders. He is also liable to pay 4 percent of the tender amount as a penalty.
Additional Deputy Commissioner (Urban Development) Gurpreet Singh Thind said the administration was now looking into the role of all officials who were deputed at the MC before Executive Officer (EO) Gurcharan Singh joined the office. The matter was being investigated.
The contractor has been directed to restore the road to its original condition. Only the chunk of road that was dismantled would be repaired. He was also liable to pay 4 percent of the tender amount as a penalty. The administration has also stopped all payments to the contractor related to the tender. “An investigation is being carried out into the role of all officials who were deputed at the Council before EO Gurcharan Singh joined the office,” he added.
The matter of the ‘faulty’ tender evolved after the contractor concerned started the work on relaying the Nabha town cinema road despite the Deputy Commissioner’s orders for the status quo. Residents had complained that the road was in good condition and did not require any work. An inquiry conducted into the matter later found that the new tender amounting to Rs 96 lakh was issued in 2021, merely 1.5 years after the previous work of laying the bitumen road had been completed. The same was in violation of the rules, which warrant passage for at least three years before reconstruction of the road.