சென்னை கார்ப்பரேஷன் திமுக கால 284 கோடி மோசடி டெண்டர்கள் ரத்து- மேயர், அமைச்சர், கமிஷனர் மீது வழக்கு?

சென்னை கார்ப்பரேஷன் திமுக கால 284 கோடி மோசடி டெண்டர்கள் ரத்து- மேயர், அமைச்சர், கமிஷனர் மீது வழக்கு?

The PA has already been named as one of the accused in an ED dossier in a diff case. He was also mentioned as “point of contact” for bribe collection by the ED.

Greater Chennai Corporation has cancelled ₹284 crore worth of footpath tenders floated in Feb after officials flagged multiple irregularities including alleged pre-fixing of contractors, inflated project costs, bids quoted above estimates, restrictive eligibility conditions and potential loss to the exchequer.

The project was announced in the GCC budget by Mayor R Priya on Feb 19 and tenders were floated by the special projects department on Feb 20, ahead of MCC coming into force on March 15. The works were split into 35 packages covering footpaths across major roads including Shastri Nagar (Adyar), Fourth Avenue (Besant Nagar), Raja Muthiah Salai near Jawaharlal Stadium, Barnaby Road (Kilpauk), Dr PS Siasamy Salai (Mylapore) and other arterial stretches. L1 bidders had been identified for all 35 packages, but work orders were not issued. Each package covered 2–3 roads and was valued at ₹8–9 crore. Officials said similar stretches would normally cost ₹1.5–2 crore as the work largely involved masonry and concrete flattening. They cited the 500m Kader Nawaz Khan Road pedestrian plaza project: which involved utility shifting, lighting, seating, cobble-stones and premium flooring and itself cost ₹19 crore. In comparison, the cancelled packages proposed spending nearly ₹9 crore merely to relay concrete footpaths across 2–3 roads. Example: Package 6 proposed ₹8.2 crore to lay around 1km of footpaths on Park Road and North Avenue Road in Anna Nagar West Extension. Officials said the per-metre cost worked out to nearly four times the usual rate despite involving only basic concrete masonry. Tender participation patterns also triggered scrutiny. Package 9: ₹8.3 crore footpath works on Jawahar Street and Sixth Main Road, Mogappair - only two firms participated: P and CE Projects and Sri Sivaram & Co. P and CE quoted 9% above estimate and emerged L1; Sri Sivaram quoted 7.15% above estimate. Package 2: ₹7.9 crore works on Erikarai Salai, Pillaiyar Kovil Salai and Bazaar Street - the same firms participated. P and CE quoted 9% above estimate (L1), Sri Sivaram & Co 12% above estimate (L2), and Adithya Infrastructure 15% above estimate (L3). Officials contrasted this with normal competitive tenders. In a June 24 road-cut tender on Ambattur Estate Road worth ₹25 lakh, 10 contractors participated; eight bid below estimate, one bid 5% above, and SMK Contractors emerged L1 at 25.9% below estimate. Five contractors quoted around 25% below. “There was escalation in project cost and a pattern in contractor participation. DPR also included unnecessary ramp construction components,” an official said. Another official said some proposed works overlapped with MRTS-CMRL project sites. Officials also flagged mandatory site visit and machinery visit certificates, saying these conditions restricted participation despite Chennai having nearly 400 contractors capable of bidding. “The project has state approval and is not shelved. We cancelled only the tenders. DPR will be reviewed and the project will return with revised estimates,” an official said. Rama Rao questioned why action had not been initiated against officials if GCC itself had found irregularities. MAWS, headed by CM C Joseph Vijay, has directed scrutiny of all ongoing tenders initiated during the previous regime. Around 40 works are under review, with revised estimates and fresh proposals being prepared.