CWG scam: CAG hammers Central Public Works Dept

Taking a dim view of the renovation and upgradation work in various sporting venues in Delhi for the Commonwealth Games, the Comptroller and Auditor General has found blatant favouritism was shown to certain contractors by the CPWD.

It has also found deficiencies in the bidding process and inexplicable delays in project execution by the CPWD leading to inflated cost.

The appointment of Consulting Engineering Services as the main design consultant for five main stadia was seriously flawed as it did not have the specific expertise in designing stadiums, the report said.

Concessions including extra payments were given to contractors of the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium and Dr Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Swimming Pool.

Deficiencies in work in the construction of the weightlifting auditorium at JLN Stadium and Kadarpur Shooting range are being highlighted by the CAG in its latest report.

It pointed out faulty methods were adopted to inflate rates for the benefit of the vendor involving providing chairs for VIPs and media at five venues.

Commenting upon the CAG findings, CPWD Director General CS Prasad said, "It is an audit point of view. It was not an engineering report. Engineers should examine it to ascertain whether the work is good or bad."

Prasad said, "We will be submitting a proper report with documents after examining the CAG report."

CAG has observed that the appointment of Consulting Engineering Services (CES) as the main design consultant for five main stadia - Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Dr SP Mukherjee Stadium, Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium, Indira Gandhi Stadium and Dr Karni Singh Shooting Range - was seriously flawed.

Though CES did not directly possess specific experience in designing sports stadia with its experience being primarily in providing consultancy for roads and bridges, it was still selected.

Other bidders with fairly good experiences like Mott Macdonald which had constructed Wembley Stadium in London, Melbourne Cricket Ground in Australia and Lord's cricket ground in London were rejected.

CAG found the performance of CES in consultancy of almost all the venues was abysmal.

A centralised coordination committee chaired by Chairman OC and including representatives from venue owners, implementing agencies, was responsible for selection of brands of sports surfaces.

The CAG found clear instances of favouritism and bias shown by this committee, largely guided by the OC in selecting sport surfaces for athletic tracks, hockey turf and badminton court mats.