Did monitoring panel exist only on papers?
LUCKNOW : Official apathy has resulted in the poor construction of the players pavilion at the Green Park Stadium in Kanpur where the roof has developed cracks, allowing rainwater to seep in.
People aware of the developments said had the monitoring committee kept a strict vigil on the construction in the last two years such a situation could have been avoided. However, monitoring committee allegedly remained on papers only.
The committee had to monitor the time-bound construction of the pavilion, which is being built at a cost of Rs 33.75 crore at the only Test centre in the state.
The government order related to the construction of the players pavilion in Kanpur (dated October 12, 2015) advocated for a fourmember monitoring committee to ensure effective control on quality of construction as well as time-bound completion of the construction work. HT is in possession of the government order.
The committee was supposed to have the commissioner (Kanpur) as its chairman, and three others, including chief engineer of the Kanpur Development Authority (KDA), a member of the UP Sports Directorate and a representative of the UP Cricket Association.
However, sources confirmed that formation of such a monitoring committee remained only on papers and never existed in reality.
“Let me check about the existence of any such committee. I would be able to let you know about this once I go through the record,” regional sports officer Ajay Sethi, who has been posted in Kanpur for more than a year, said on Friday.
He, however, confirmed that he has sought a detailed report from the construction agency about the cracks and reasons for seepage in players’ pavilion.
“Nothing is going to happen in this case as poor quality construction has become the order of the day in the sports department. Monitoring committee is just an eyewash and no one cares about it,” former director, sports, Vijay Singh Chauhan said on Friday.
“It is an example of corruption in the department. If the sharing of money is not stopped, this will continue,” he added.
“I have seen ministers and officials forcefully changing the construction agency and the contractor. Delaying tactics in construction always allows contractors and construction agency to repeatedly revise the estimate,” said Chauhan, adding, “The budget of the international standard swimming pool at Saifai was revised thrice.”
“It’s a game of authorities where every individual has his cut or share so it’s very hard to expect a good quality construction of sporting infrastructure. I have been told that a few selected contractors are allowed to do the work in sports directorate even though the government’s system of e-tendering exists,” Chauhan said.
UP sports and youth welfare minister Chetan Chauhan has already ordered an inquiry into the episode. UP Cricket Association has also demanded a probe but many in the sports directorate remained sceptical of the outcome.