CAG report says Eastern Freeway project failed to match up to plan
A report of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India has revealed that Mumbai Eastern Freeway project failed to match up to the plan; thereby underscoring the fact that MMRDA could not achieve the targets which had been set under the Mumbai Urban Infrastructure Project.
Highlighting the shortfall by the MMRDA, the CAG report said that though the original plan for the Eastern Freeway involved the construction of a six-lane road connecting south Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Vastu Sanghrahalaya to Anik junction in the eastern suburbs, only four lanes were built.
In addition, the CAG report also drew attention to the deficiencies with regard to the implementation of the Eastern Freeway contracts benefitting the contractors and project management consultants.
Along with pointing to the MMRDA’s underperformance linked to the Eastern Freeway project, the CAG report also noted that the MMRDA has completed only 38 of the 157 projects awarded to it.
The report said that although consultants had been appointed, audit scrutiny has revealed that excess work ranged between 58 percent and 1305 percent, due to changes and modifications, as well as inaccurate approximations and assumptions during initial survey.
The report said: “The execution of excess quantities in effect resulted in payment of higher consultancy fee to the project management consultants.”
Source – The Times of India
Comptroller and Auditor General, MMRDA, MMRDA Mumbai, Mumbai Eastern Freeway project, Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA), Mumbai Urban Infrastructure Project, projects of MMRDA
