India News | Chhattisgarh Govt to Ask ACB, EOW to Probe Irregularities in Construction of Raipur Skywalk

Raipur, Dec 26 (PTI) The Chhattisgarh government has decided to ask the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) and Economic Offences Wing (EOW) to probe the alleged irregularities in the construction of a skywalk in capital Raipur, an official said on Monday.

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The construction of the skywalk began when the BJP government was in power in the state, but was later halted in 2018.

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The estimate for the project worth Rs 77 crore was deliberately prepared twice so that there would be no need for approval from the Project Formulation and Implementation Committee (PFIC), the officer from the public relations department said.

Any project of public welfare is investigated through the PFIC. However, it wasn't done in case of the skywalk, he said.

The public works department sent a review proposal regarding the project to the finance department on December 5, 2018 during the continuation of the Assembly elections' notification in 2018, which was a direct violation of the Model Code of Conduct, the official claimed.

The first tender for the project was floated on February 4, 2017 by the PWD and only 15 days were allotted to present bids. No administrative approval was obtained from the finance department and no requirement or justification was provided for the deadline of 15 days, he said.

While the construction of the skywalk began when there was a BJP government in the state, it was stalled after the Congress came to power in 2018.

The Congress government in the state had sought public opinion on whether the project needs to be completed or the partially erected structure needs to be demolished.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)