Queue up at Secretariat to get payments fast-tracked
Hyderabad: Contractors who managed to secure work with the support of TRS leaders for the recently concluded Godavari Pushkaralu in Telangana are claiming full bills even for sub-standard and incomplete work near the Pushkar ghats.
The government had awarded contracts worth Rs 500 crore for the Pushkaralu in five districts. There was no monitoring mechanism to assess the quality of work.
Contractors took advantage of this and started the work at the last minute, thus compromising on quality.
Several Pushkar ghats, toilets, changing rooms and even roads got damaged even before Pushkaralu concluded.
The government’s plan was to make permanent arrangements for pilgrims near Pushkar ghats and ensure that they serve the purpose even for next Pushkaralu in 2027.
Asked about this, endowments minister A. Indrakaran Reddy said, “There is no question of government paying bills to contractors for incomplete works. Though Rs 10 crore may be sanctioned for each Push-kar ghat, we won’t pay the full amount but according to the amount they incurred on works. We will check their work bills before making final payments.”
For instance, a helipad was built in Basar for Rs 20 lakh to enable VIPs to fly directly. However it was built on a private land instead of the Basar temple land. While not a single VIP had used this helipad, police officials used it only once to review security arrangements.
With Pushkarlu over, the contract with the private owner ended, he is free to demolish the helipad now. If it was built on temple land, it would have served a permanent purpose.
