MSRDC accused of irregularities in Mumbai-Pune E-way truck terminal project

The terminal was to be built on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway. Representation pic

A WRIT petition filed in the Bombay High Court on February 15 by residents of Lonavla and Khalapur, alleging officials from the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) have committed irregularities and illegalities in a truck terminal project on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway. The petitioners, Ramesh Sharma and Mehboob Jamadar, have demanded an inquiry from CBI and CID and asked the court to make MSRDC officials to pay for the loss from their own pockets.

The terminal
The project dates back to 2010, when Latur resident Deepak Patil brought to light a major scam which took place that year under the Congress-NCP government in the tendering process of the Rs 2,000-crore truck terminal project on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway.

In 2010, MSRDC decided to build a truck terminal alongside both corridors of the expressway due to non-availability of separate parking facility for heavy vehicles. Accordingly, MSRDC hired a company, M/s Darashaw and Co, to develop six plots of land. As per the proposal, the company was to develop a parking facility on 50 per cent of the land and utilise the remaining for commercial activities.

New rules
In 2015, the BJP government decided to cancel the tender and issue another one. This time, the cost of the project was pegged at Rs 10 crore. For the new Rs 10-crore project, bidders were expected to have a minimum experience of seven years in business and to have developed at least nine truck/bus/container terminus during that period of time. Further, they had to have an average annual turnover of not less than Rs 10 crore, with a net worth of the same amount.

But Patil claims a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG), who carried out a survey, revealed that Vikram Telematics and Mystical Technoplast, who were among the final six companies shortlisted for the project, did not fulfil the requirement of having a net worth of R10 crore.

While Vikram Telematics turnover was Rs 3.32 crore and Rs 3.48 crore for 2011-2012 and 2012-2013, respectively, Mystical Technoplast's turnover during that same period was Rs 1.25 crore and Rs 1.37 crore, respectively. Vikram Telematics also didn't have the minimum seven years' experience. Further, the conditions in the tender were also allegedly changed later in favour of the companies. "The selection of the companies was not transparent, which has resulted in losses to MSRDC," alleged Patil.

Wrote to CM, PM
In 2016, Patil, 59, who owns eight acres of land near area demarcated for the truck terminal project, had also written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, appealing them to register a case against the defaulters, who were responsible for manipulating the tendering process for construction of the terminal and also asked them to investigate on what basis MSRDC had previously quoted R2,000 crore for the project.

In 2017, when the Assembly was in session, former Congress leader Narayan Rane had raised a question regarding the scam, to which Eknath Shinde, the PWD minister had replied that they were going to have an inquiry. Accordingly, CAG and the Khalapur police were roped in to conduct the inquiry. Even as the team was conducting a probe into the case, the 2015 scam came to light in the re-tendering process. They also managed to prove that there was merit to Patil's allegations.

"The CAG report and the DYSP report have clearly shown the losses. But if there has been no action, they should carry out a CBI or CID inquiry into it. The report that will come from it will help reveal the losses suffered by the government. However, we demand that the money for the loss be collected from the pockets of MSRDC officials," said Sharma.

Tendering faulty too
Jamadar, an activist from Khalapur, claims the tendering process itself is faulty, as the authorities have not followed the norms. "When we gathered information through RTI, it revealed the facts and losses faced by the government in the project. But when we asked officials to clarify the same, they denied it. The losses should be recovered from the officials. Firstly, a case should be registered, and accordingly, recovery should be carried out," he said.

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