The Karnataka government is facing serious allegations of corruption with contractors claiming that ministers demand a 40% cut for granting contracts for infrastructure projects. If contractors are paying bribes to politicians, then it follows that they are cutting costs to ensure profits. A Lokayukta report about one single constituency in Bengaluru has laid out exactly how corruption in road works plays out in road works, and how local government officials help them get away with substandard work — and in some cases, no work at all. In the middle of this corruption scandal is a government agency called Karnataka Rural Infrastructure Development Limited (KRIDL), which is given contracts without tenders.
At the time the report was submitted, Justice P Vishwanatha Shetty was the Lokayukta of Karnataka and his term ended on January 27, 2022. The current Lokayukta is Justice BS Patil. TNM has accessed the report, which was filed based on a complaint by Congress MP DK Suresh. The Lokayukta conducted a probe and found that there was misappropriation of funds in 114 works, including development of roads, maintenance of drains, removal of debris, drilling of borewells etc. The corruption, according to the Lokayukta, has caused the exchequer a loss of Rs 118.25 crore.
The Lokayukta report published in January 2022, that TNM has accessed, details how exactly funds are misappropriated. RR Nagar lies in the southwest part of Bengaluru, with some wards from north and north east too being included in the constituency. A total of 14 BBMP wards come under this constituency. The MLA is Munirathna Naidu, an influential legislator who jumped from Congress to BJP in 2019.
The funds for developmental works that have come under the Lokayukta scanner was allotted as part of Chief Minister’s Nava Nagarothana scheme for the year 2019-20, and the BBMP handed over the work to Karnataka Rural Infrastructure Development Limited (KRIDL) which is a government agency that carries out infrastructure projects. KRIDL, in turn, gave the work to private contractors.
The report found that only two of the total 116 works scrutinised were carried out properly. The value of each of the works allotted is just under Rs 2 crore.
The Lokayukta investigation reveals that the scam was broadly done in four ways.
In a majority of the 116 works that were probed, only 20% to 30% of the total work was completed, but bills for 80% of the amount were raised and cleared.
For example, in Nanjappa Garden area in north Bengaluru, in ward number 73, an estimated cost for improvement of 9th main road, 10th main road and surrounding cross roads at Rs. 1,95,99,826 (Rs 1.9 crore) was granted. “The said work was entrusted to KRIDL which has carried out substandard work to the extent of 30% and submitted a bill for Rs 1,70,53,540 (Rs 1.7 crore),” the report said. Bills are cleared after engineers of the BBMP conduct an inspection, and this suggests they might be getting kickbacks from contractors in order to submit false reports.
The pattern has been repeated in many places. For example, for improvement of roads at Marilinganapalya extension, Nagarabhavi 5th Block and other surrounding cross roads in Ward number 73 Kottigepalya, an amount of Rs 1.9 crore was sanctioned. But KRIDL carried out substandard work to the extent of 25% and submitted a bill for Rs 1.7 crore.
A similar scam was found in several areas like Vinayaka Layout, Nanjappa Garden and BEML Layout. According to the report, a total of 45 works were manipulated in this manner.
In the projects we have listed above, at least some part of the work has been completed. But in several other places, the contractors decided to bill the government without finishing any work. The Lokayukta has found at least 57 cases where absolutely no work has been done on ground, but bills have been submitted and cleared for them.
For example, in ward number 73, BBMP had given works worth Rs 1.7 crore to KRIDL for improvement of seven cross roads. The Lokayukta found that without executing the works at all, fake bills have been submitted and funds have been released too.
The estimated cost for improvement of roads at Nagarabhavi 5th Block and BDA complex surrounding cross roads in Ward Number 73, BBMP, Kottigepalya was at Rs. 1.96 crore The said work was entrusted to KRIDL which without executing the above work submitted the bill for Rs 1.7 crore towards the work earlier executed in BDA.
A similar pattern was seen in many areas in the constituency like Marilingappa extension, Nagarbhavi, Kempegowda Layout, Jnanabharathi ward, and Pramod Nagara.
Another way in which fake bills were produced was by using substandard quality materials in construction, hampering the safety of citizens. One such example is using hollow bricks instead of concrete slabs in drains. The Lokayukta found that in at least 23 places, this had been done.
Using hollow bricks in place of concrete slabs reduces the cost of construction significantly, but can pose serious safety issues to citizens. S Harish, former Mayor of Bengaluru says that if hollow bricks are used in construction of drains, especially for load-bearing pillars, it could jeopardise the drain.
In Dwaraka Layout, BEML Layout, and surrounding areas in Rajarajeshwari Nagar Ward Number 160, improvement and maintenance of drains was entrusted to KRIDL at Rs 1.96 crore. But when Lokayukta officials inspected the works completed, it was found that cement was not applied over the drain, and hollow bricks were used. But still, bills worth Rs. 1.7 crore were raised and cleared.
The same modus operandi was followed in another place — improvement and maintenance of drains in Ideal Homes Township and Kenchenahalli surroundings in Rajarajeshwari Nagar Ward Number 160.
The Lokayukta report notes that some of the works were of substandard quality and some works have not been executed as per the tender specifications. They have also found that in the Measurement Books (MB) to be maintained by the contractors and engineers, excess measurements were reported, allowing for further misappropriation of funds
In the Lokayukta report, it has been recommended that infrastructural development work or any other works required to be executed by the BBMP should not be entrusted to KRIDL.
Also, Justice Vishwanath Shetty has suggested constituting a special committee of experts with a high ranking public servant as its chairperson to make a sample survey of 10% of the work executed or being executed by the KRIDL which has been entrusted to it for the last two years by BBMP.
The report was submitted to the government on January 24, 2022. But no action has been taken against the officials named in the report so far, a senior officer at the Karnataka Lokayukta confirmed to TNM. After the state government accepted the report, another inquiry is underway to probe the allegations, and action may be initiated only after its conclusion, the official said. There is no timeframe for the inquiry to be completed, he added.
But there is more to this scam. The BBMP has given a bulk of the work to KRIDL, a very contentious agency. KRIDL is a government agency which was earlier called Directorate of Land Army. Their stated aim is to provide employment in rural areas through infrastructure projects and to undertake all rural development construction by eliminating middlemen. But there is a huge issue of transparency and accountability that plagues the agency.
“KRIDL can be called in for construction only during emergencies like floods. But there is a practice in BBMP of calling them for all routine works too,” says S Harish, a former mayor of Bengaluru. “There is no tender required to give the world to KRIDL so whatever price they quote is often given to them without scrutiny. On top of it, they officially charge a 11% commission,” Harish adds.
He alleges that KRIDL hardly has any manpower and machinery. So they have to give subcontractors to get work done.
Retired IAS officer and former BBMP Commissioner H Siddaiah agrees with Harish. “When BBMP gives work to KRIDL, there is no need for a tendering process. But after it is given to KRIDL, it can be given to other contractors. So there can be a huge problem of transparency,” Siddaiah told TNM.
A member of the Contractors Association told TNM that the money is divided between BBMP engineers, KRIDL engineers and the contractors.
In the complaint, DK Suresh had alleged that the public living in the constituency complained to him that funds given by the state and Union governments for developmental works in the year 2019-20 and that funds to the tune of Rs 250 cr have been released to contractors despite substandard work or no work done at all in some cases. He has alleged that despite their complaints to the BBMP senior engineers, no action was taken.