SHILLONG: The Trinamool Congress (TMC) has alleged that “shocking anomalies” took place during the pre-construction and construction process of the new Meghalaya assembly building of the state that led to the collapse of the dome over the under-construction building.
Senior TMC leader Saket Gokhale has alleged that the construction of the new assembly building was sub-contracted to “disqualified bidders”.
“According to the bid documents for the tender floated in 2018, the bidders for the contract included M/S Bardi Rai and Company and Uttar Pradesh Rajkiya Nirman Nigam Ltd. According to the Tender Bid Summary document issued on 21.02.2018, the contractor Badri Rai and Company was disqualified from being awarded the tender on the grounds that the company ‘did not fulfil the qualifying criteria of having successfully completed similar works during the last 7 years of key Government buildings with Dome or similar architectural features’,” stated a letter from TMC leader Saket Gokhale to Meghalaya PWD minister Dasakhiat Lamare.
He added: “Therefore, in short, the contractor Badri Rai and Company was disqualified in the technical evaluation specifically for not having any experience in building a similar government building a DOME.”
“The other bidder for the new Meghalaya Assembly Building tender was a contractor called M/S Shiva Enterprise. This contractor was disqualified on the grounds that the contractor did not submit hard copies of the technical bid,” the TMC leader said.
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TMC leader Saket Gokhale went on the say: “The tender for the construction of the new Meghalaya Assembly building was finally awarded to the bidder Uttar Pradesh Rajkiya Nirman Nigam Ltd… However, in a response to an RTI filed by the undersigned, the Uttar Pradesh Rajkiya Nirman Nigam Ltd, a shocking fact has come to light.”
“According to the RTI response, the Uttar Pradesh Rajkiya Nirman Nigam Ltd has sub-contracted construction work of the new Meghalaya Assembly Building to BOTH disqualified contractors namely (a) Badri Rai and Company and (b) Shiva Enterprise,” said TMC leader Saket Gokhale.
“…the Govt of Meghalaya has not only failed to detect this unholy nexus but has also not taken any action instituted any probe to find out what type of illegal collaboration was going on between Uttar Pradesh Rajkiya Nirnan Nigam ltd., Badri Rai and Company, and Shiva Enterprises and the reasons behind that,” Gokhale said.