The Hindu         04.09.2014  

South civic body to buy heavy machinery worth crores despite alleged irregularities

Two proposals to buy heavy machinery were cleared on Wednesday by the BJP-led South Delhi Municipal Corporation’s Standing Committee, despite the party’s own councillors alleging irregularities and the Finance Department questioning the plans.

Standing Committee chairperson Satish Upadhyay pushed through dissent from his own party to pass a Rs.5.09-crore proposal to buy 30 front-end loaders for the Department of Environment Management Services.

“This needs to be passed now,” said Mr. Upadhyay, referring to the proposal that was first approved by the Corporation in June 2013. With Wednesday’s clearance, the contract will be awarded to JCB India. This is the third tender for this proposal.

According to the proposal, the first tenders were called in May 2013 and seven firms applied for the same. However, the terms were modified and a new tender was called in which two bidders – JCB India and ACE Ltd. – qualified.

But on January 1 this year the tender was again cancelled. A third tender was called on January 24 and three companies applied. Again, JCB India was the only bidder that qualified as per technical conditions.

The tender process may be surrounded in confusion, but councillors and officials have poked holes in the proposal itself. The Finance Department said the Engineering Department should have included annual maintenance contracts in the tender, which have been left out.

One of the other bidders had questioned the neutrality of the tender, which were not addressed by the Engineering Department. ACE Ltd. had alleged that the department’s specifications are not vendor-neutral.

BJP councillor from Vasant Vihar Radhey Shyam Sharma as well as Leader of the Opposition Farhad Suri objected to the proposal. Chief Accountant-cum-Financial Advisor Rajesh Pathak said: “We are not satisfied with the department’s replies to our concerns.”

However, the proposal was passed.

A Rs.24.11-crore plan to buy eight suction and suction-cum-jetting machines each was also cleared despite protests from the Congress councillors. The same proposal had first been approved in June 2013 and at that time the machines would have cost Rs.13.42 crore – that is approximately Rs.10 crore less. Engineer-in-chief Ravi Das said the capital cost had not gone up.

“We have not got the details as how to the price increased so much in one year,” clarified the CA-cum-FA. But, again, the Standing Committee cleared the proposal on Wednesday. Mr. Suri said he would write to Lieutenant-Governor Najeeb Jung to demand a CBI inquiry into the two contracts.

Neutrality of tenders questioned; Leader of Opposition demands CBI probe

The Hindu       04.09.2014 

Dwarka residents revive two water bodies

The revived water body at the Sector 23 District Park in Dwarka.Photo: Special Arrangement

As Dwarka sub-city continues to battle chronic water shortage, there are two things that the residents can certainly be proud of – the two revived water bodies at Sector 20 and Sector 23.

The two water bodies have been brought to life by the concerted efforts of Environmentalist Diwan Singh, known for the Ridge Bachao Andolan and residents of Dwarka who pursued the DDA and also helped in reviving the water bodies to recharge the ground water.

After concerted effoNow in the water body in Sector 20 one can spot rabbits, nilgai and peacocks. The DDA plans to develop a massive park around the water body.

“In 2007, a movement was started to revive the ponds. The then Chief Minister discussed the plan with us. But nothing much happened on the ground. We then motivated the residents to work with us. DDA executive engineer (water bodies) A.K. Chopra also helped us in the task,” says Mr Diwan Singh.

Water conservationist and Magsaysay award winner Rajendra Singh, more famously known as the “waterman of India” visited the two sites on Wednesday. He noted that the “feeder canal for the water body at sector 20 was broken and could have been wider for better recharge”.

He was happy to note that in just two days nearly1.5 ft water had seeped the ground from this water body and noted that Dwarka’s land is good for recharging of ground water.

“For 15 months, DDA had not been able to divert even 25 per cent storm water from trunk drain to these two water bodies. There are 40 water bodies in Dwarka. DDA Vice- Chairman had assured in June, 2014 that work on at least 9 of these would be completed before monsoon but nothing has been done so far,” says Diwan Singh.

The DDA had identified 63 water bodies in the city, including Dwarka, for revival and had identified NGOs and agencies for the same. However, budgeting is yet to be done.

Dwarka resident S.S. Mann, who was also on the Water Bodies Committee formed by the then Lieutenant-Tejinder Khanna, says, “for many years, DDA did nothing. It was then that people like Diwan Singh and residents of Dwarka worked towards revival of water bodies.”

“The mandate is that not a single drop of water should go to the Najafgarh drain. Reviving one water body is like setting up many rain water harvesting systems,” says Mr. Mann.

Narender Singh, a Dwarka resident, says, “It took us a long time to do so. But for how long can we rely on water tankers. We had to find a lasting solution. And this is it.”