New Delhi: The CBI on Friday registered fresh inquiries in connection with alleged irregularities in the renovation work of Connaught Place and street lighting in the New Delhi Municipal Council area as part of beautification
drive during the Commonwealth Games 2010.
Sources in the agency said that top officials of the NDMC under whom the projects were undertaken are under the scanner but the preliminary inquiry does not name them.
These enquiries have been registered against unnamed NDMC officials.
The Comptroller and Auditor General in its report had slammed the renovation work of the iconic commercial hub in the heart of the national capital Connaught Place carried out by the NDMC.
"The original estimated cost of Rs 76 crore in May 2005 went up nearly nine-fold to Rs 671 crore by July 2007," the auditor had said in its report.
The auditor had pointed out a number of instances where wasteful expenditure was incurred in the renovation process and said it was "difficult to assess the timeline by which this project is likely to be completed to provide necessary benefits to the citizens of Delhi".
"The project was plagued by undue delays. The decision to initiate action was taken in April 2004. The DPR, however was submitted only in February 2008 and DUAC clearance received in November 2008.
It was, therefore, unreasonable to expect that the project could have been completed in time for the Games," it had said.
On the streetlighting projects, CAG had said the tenders were restricted to manufacturers of luminaries of international repute, and higher financial eligibility was stipulated, thereby restricting the competition.
PTI
First Published: Friday, February 24, 2012, 23:37