Deficiencies found in Mumbai roads on audit by an independent agency
31 Jul, 2013
The reply to an application filed with the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) under the Right to Information (RTI) Act has revealed that a third party audit of works done by most road contractors before the monsoon has found many deficiencies in the work.
In its reply to the application, the BMC said that it had appointed an independent agency, SGS to audit roads from Colaba to Mulund and Dahisar. The audit was to be done according to the BMC's quality assurance manual.
As per the reply, the audit report found that the quality plan and work carried out by the contractors were not provided at time of audit. The contractors didn’t even submit the certified tender documents for audit. It also shows that the quality control tests for materials used in construction were not conducted at an outside laboratory as prescribed in the manual. The audit report states that debris was not removed after completion of project despite clear instructions. It said that the cement mortar filled between two median kerbstones was without proper hacking and denting.
It has been pointed out that despite these deficiencies being pointed out by the audit, the BMC has again awarded the same contractors fresh contracts worth Rs. 620 crore.