LoP: AMC didn't inspect roads worth Rs 350 crore

Talking on the sidelines of the budget board meeting on Friday, leader of opposition Dinesh Sharma has alleged that road scam at the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) is nothing new. The inquiry made by the civic officials are nothing new but an eyewash, he added.

Sixty-three road contracts, worth Rs473.62 crore, have been allotted to the AMC over the last two financial years. The vigilance department officials have only collected material samples from 183 roads that have been constructed over the last two years. However, the officials did not inspect the roads which were constructed between 2015-16 after spending Rs300 to Rs350 crore, said Sharma.

"In the last two years, Rs 548 crores have been spent after making new roads. Out of this, roads worth Rs480 crores have been washed away during the last monsoon. Also, Rs 125 crore of road patchwork has been washed," Sharma said.

"Annually, AMC spends Rs250 crores to resurface the roads. The civic body has already invested Rs 200 crore for constructing new roads. AMC spends Rs1 crore to resurface one-km of a road network, while to make a new road of one-km length takes Rs6 crore," said Sharma.

"Road scam is the biggest scam in AMC which has appeared in recent times. Two hundred km of roads have been washed in the last one year. It means Rs200 crore have been washed away. Going by this calculation, an estimate of Rs150 crore roads have not been counted," Sharma said.

Alleging a lack of management in the road work, Sharma said: "Generally, roadworks finish by February. But, the irony is that the roadworks continue till April and May. Hence, they are washed away easily," remarked Sharma.

ALLEGED SCAM

• AMC official refused to comment when DNA reporter asked him about the alleged scam.
   
• The vigilance department officials have only collected material samples from 183 roads that have been constructed over the last two years.