Action against seven power utility officers recommended

Ravinder Saini

Tribune News Service

Jhajjar, July 18

A vigilance inquiry conducted by Haryana Vidyut Prasaran Nigam Limited (HVPNL) has found corruption in the construction of a multi-storey office building of the Old Power House at Nayi Basti in Bahadurgarh town here.

The building was constructed at the cost of Rs 3.96 crore in 2013. On the basis of the inquiry report, departmental action has been recommended against seven officers, including three superintending engineers (SEs), two executive engineers (XENs), a sub-divisional officer (SDO) and junior engineer (JE) with the Civil Construction Division of Uttar Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (UHBVN). Appropriate action has also been recommended against the contractor of the building.

The action has been taken on a complaint filed by advocate Naveen Single at the CM Window on April 24, 2017.

He alleged huge corruption in the construction of the building stating that it took a bad shape merely within three years which is a proof of sub-standard material having been used in the construction. The building started functioning in 2014.

“The building developed big cracks in pillars and walls. Tiles have dislocated and cement plaster is also peeling off the walls,” said Single.

He maintained the complaint was assigned to DSP (Vigilance), HVPNL, Karnal, for thorough inquiry into the matter and samples from the construction site were also collected.

The inquiry took several months but he followed up the case at regular intervals.

“Finally, the inquiry proved corruption in the construction and found that the building material was not used as per standard ratio for which departmental action has been recommended against the SEs — RS Dahiya, Kabul Singh and NK Mittal; the XENs — RK Oberoi and AK Goel; SDO SS Kundu and JE BS Dhankar with the civil construction division of the UHBVN besides contractor Rajesh Kumar Batra,” he added.