Ahmedabad, May 19 (IANS) The Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) has ordered a wide-ranging crackdown on alleged financial and procedural irregularities in storm water drainage projects across the city, suspending four engineering officials, initiating criminal proceedings and directing recoveries running into crores of rupees after a Vigilance audit uncovered discrepancies in measurement records and billing.

The action follows a preliminary investigation by the corporation’s Vigilance Department into multiple contracts in the East Zone, where irregularities including alterations in measurement books, duplicate entries, copy-pasted records from previous works, and mismatches between actual site execution and recorded quantities were reported.

The enquiry covered contractors, project management consultants and engineering officials, with statements recorded from several agencies including Vist Construction, Meeral Infrastructure, Dhruvi Buildcon Pvt. Ltd., Ro-Gold Waste Management Pvt. Ltd., Vincenzo Projects Pvt. Ltd., and PMC firms including TUV Rheinland (India) Pvt. Ltd. and I.R. Class System and Solution Pvt. Ltd.

In one major case, storm water drainage work in Ramol-Hathijan ward under Draft TP Schemes 107, 108 and 115, awarded to Vist Construction with TUV Rheinland (India) Pvt. Ltd. acting as PMC, revealed alleged duplication of measurements and manipulation of measurement book entries.

The project, originally valued at Rs 7.33 crore with approved costs of Rs 6.68 crore, had already seen payments of over Rs 5.81 crore.

Investigators found that subletting had taken place and that pages of the original measurement book were allegedly altered before scrutiny.

The civic body has ordered an FIR in the matter and initiated recovery proceedings.

In the same contract package, duplicate measurement entries were found between Vist Construction and Meeral Infrastructure for pipeline works in adjacent stretches, leading to a proposed recovery of over Rs 2.34 crore from Vist Construction alone, along with additional recoveries for measurement discrepancies.

In a separate case in Vastral ward involving Dhruvi Buildcon Pvt. Ltd. and Bhagirath Construction, investigators found alleged copying of previous project measurements and irregular billing under storm water and drainage line works.

The enquiry indicated that certain entries in the measurement books matched earlier executed works from 2024, resulting in payments being processed without corresponding execution in parts of the project.

The civic body has calculated recoveries exceeding Rs 81 lakh in this case, including interest, and identified additional losses due to discrepancies in manhole construction measurements.

Taking note of the findings, the municipal commissioner has suspended four officials of the East Zone engineering department with immediate effect.

Those suspended include Additional City Engineer Rajesh Rathwa, Deputy City Engineer Utkarsh Bhabhor, Assistant City Engineer Ramesh Baria, and Assistant Engineer Alpesh Makwana.

A departmental enquiry has also been initiated against them.

The corporation has also moved to blacklist PMC firm TUV Rheinland (India) Pvt. Ltd. for alleged lapses in supervision and documentation, including failure to properly monitor mandatory registers such as MPR, carting records, pipe-laying registers and daily progress reports.

Authorities have further stated that no new work will be allotted to the agencies involved until the ongoing investigation is completed.

The civic body has also directed that FIRs be registered against those responsible and has announced system-wide corrective measures, including a revised procedure for maintaining measurement book records and stricter pre-audit checks for bill processing, which has already been circulated through an official circular.

–IANS

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