Congress corporator alleges ‘huge corruption’ in name of re-carpeting of bridges in Vadodara, official rejects charge

On Thursday, Ravat alleged that “only minor works were suggested” by the consultant who inspected the 12 bridges in question in June last year, based on which, the VMC sent proposals to the Standing Committee seeking clearance of re-carpeting amounting to Rs 31.37 crore. In a letter addressed to Municipal Commissioner Arun Mahesh Babu, who took over charge on Tuesday, Ravat has demanded that “all payments for the work (of re-carpeting bridges) must be stopped” until a vigilance inquiry is conducted.

Referring to her previous letters addressed to the VMC, on March 22 and April 2, Ravat said that the inspection of CASAD Consultants in each of the 12 bridges of the city conducted on June 6, 2024, as part of the VMC’s pre-monsoon work, “was deliberately not being shared as a huge corruption is going on in the name of bridge repairs”. Ravat said, “The officers (of the VMC department for bridges) claimed in their proposals to the Standing Committee that the work was based on the consultant’s report. But actually, in none of the bridges, has the consultant recommended resurfacing or wearing a coat by mastic… Rs 31 crore of the taxpayers’ money is wasted in carpeting the wearing coat (top layer) of bridges, which are actually very good and can serve for the next four or five years with minor repairs.”

Demanding a vigilance inquiry into the “criminal waste of taxpayers money” by the engineers concerned, the contractor and other decision makers, Ravat shared the recommendations made by the consultant in the case of the Fatehgunj flyover; Amit Nagar flyover; Hari Nagar flyover; the Railway overbridges at Kalali, Soma Talav, Lalbaug, Akota-Dandia Bazar, Jetalpur; as well as the old and new parts of the Shastri bridge, along with the river bridges at Kasamalla and Kashiba, where widening is also currently on.

Ravat alleged that although the consultant had recommended minor repairs for Soma Talav, Lalbaug, Jetalpur, and Harinagar, the rest of the bridges were indicated to have their wearing coats in a “very good” condition. Ravat also pointed out that the Fatehgunj flyover, built in 2015, had been re-carpeted only on one side and was “as good as the other side” that was not taken up for re-carpeting.

Speaking to The Indian Express, VMC Executive Engineer (Bridge Projects) Ravindrakumar Pandya denied the allegations, stating that several critical factors are involved in deciding on re-carpeting the bridge surfaces. Pandya said, “All the works undertaken on 12 of the 40 bridges in the city (since October last year) are as per the recommendation of the consultant. When we prepare proposals and follow the due process of tendering and approvals, we have to do it meticulously. Several factors such as traffic density, monsoon, weather conditions, age of wearing coats, and surface quality have to be considered before deciding the course of maintenance of the bridges… The bridge components have to be kept safe if repairs are indicated during inspections.”

Citing the example of the damaged surface of the GSFC flyover, which has been included in the VMC jurisdiction in recent years, Pandya said, “On some bridges, simple patchwork cannot be undertaken in bits. If we allow RCC structures to develop cracks instead of undertaking timely preventive maintenance, it would lead to a more complicated process of breaking the entire concrete and redoing it, curing the surface before undertaking bitumen work. It will also involve road closure for over two or three months. Instead, re-carpeting the surfaces when necessary prevents long-term damage.”

Pandya said that for most of the 12 bridges, where re-carpeting has been undertaken, the work has been done after a gap of seven to 10 years. “Precaution is better than cure and we follow the process of coordinating with the traffic department and issuing advertisements to make people aware before commencing work on bridge repairs,” Pandya said.