Chennai: Chennai Mega City Development Mission, a prestigious project launched during the tenure of former CM J. Jayalalithaa at an estimate of Rs 9,228 crore, has turned out to be a damp squib with the state sanctioning just Rs 2,500 crore during the period 2011 to 2016, said a CAG report tabled in the Assembly on Wednesday.
For its part the Greater Chennai Corporation messed up the project by implementing stormwater drain work in extended areas without any scientific approach. Due to poor planning and callousness of engineers, 51 major stor-mwater drains were reconstructed at an estimate of Rs 54.33 crore, the report said.
Stormwater drain works were to be designed based on topographical, meteorological and hydrological study, but the corporation executed the project without any such studies thereby wasting taxpayers money.
Further the SWD were not linked to natural waterways and water bodies for efficient storm water conservation. Road works were executed without integrated SWDs in contravention of the instructions of the project sanctioning committee (PSC).
Use of cast iron pipes instead of ductile iron pipes resulted in avoidable expenditure liability of Rs 35.97 crore. Entrusted of road works without calling for tenders resulted in excess expenditure of Rs 4.69 crore.
Lack of effective monitoring by PSC resulted in post facto sanction of 1,946 unapproved works, the CAG report said.
“The main objective of the mega city project was to provide infrastructure thrust to the extended areas of Chennai Corporation which were merged with the civic body in 2011 by roping in 42 urban local bodies, but lack of funds and poor execution has defeated the project,” said social activist R. Govindaraj of Exnora International.
Stormwater drain works continues to be farce and now CAG exposed the same. Based on the CAG report, the state or the judiciary should take suo moto action against errant authorities who crippled the mega city project, he added.
