BHUBANESWAR: Vigilance on Monday arrested two employees of M/s Hindustan Steelworks Construction Limited (HSCL) for allegedly failing to supervise the construction work of four hostels carried out by two contractors, which resulted in substandard quality of the buildings.
A vigilance officer said HSCL’s senior site engineer Sourav Dey and site engineer Saptarsi Goswamy failed to supervise the works executed by contractors Bijay and Deepak. They facilitated the release of payments, allowed the contractors to execute substandard works and missappropriated government funds, he added.
The officer further informed that HSCL had executed the work without any approval design and drawing from the ST and SC Development department. Even soil testing was not conducted to ascertain the foundation requirements for construction of the hostel buildings, he added. On the day, the anti-corruption agency conducted searches at the office of HSCL. It had earlier arrested Bijay and his son Deepak in this connection.
The SC and ST Development, Minorities and Backward Classes Welfare department had earlier signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with HSCL to construct hostels for SC/ST students in undivided districts of Kalahandi, Balangir and Koraput (KBK districts). Later the company floated tenders and entered into an agreement with class-A contractor Bijay Agrawal and his son Deepak for construction of 12 hostels at `8.12 crore.