Greed for profit puts lives at risk

BENGALURU: The caving in of mud at RR Nagar that buried alive Madiwalappa Gowda during an underground sewage pipe laying incident was the result of the contractor KBR Infrastructure illegally outsourcing his work to another contractor. BWSSB was in the dark about it.

Probing of the issue by The New Indian Express revealed that stealthily handing over one’s work to a smaller contractor is a common practice in both water as well as sewage pipeline contracts across the city. “In the case of some contracts, an agreement inked with BWSSB permits up to 40 per cent of the project, mainly civil works, to be outsourced. However, there was no such provision permitted in this Vrishabhavati Sewer Project,” a senior BWSSB official said.

The project manager of KBR Infrastructure, M Nagaraj, told Express that the contract was being carried out for them by PG Constructions. “What happened was an accident,” he said.

A source privy to all contracts within BWSSB alleged that safety is compromised due to such unethical activities. “The whole thing boils down to an understanding between some top BWSSB officials and contractors. The consultant appointed by BWSSB prepares numerous estimates for every stage of the project. The consultant is asked by senior officials to club it into a big package. Only a few big contractors are in a position to bid for such packages. For instance, this package to KBR cost `500 crore.” In turn, the contractor returns the favour to the officials by offering 10 per cent of the package cost, he charged.

Again, there is a cartelisation among a few big contractors, he said. “All the big names decide to quote higher than the amount specified in the contract. Each one quotes lower than the others in some project and bags it. Apart from their higher quote (generally 10 per cent more but which even touches 60 per cent high sometimes), there is an inbuilt 10 per cent profit legally permitted in any contract. In addition the contractor sub-contracts the job to small contractors at a cost 30 per cent lesser than what he bagged it for,” the source alleged. “It is the job of the original contractor to ensure safety. However, the sub-contractors compromise on various aspects to make a small profit,” he said.

It was mandatory for BWSSB to appoint a project management consultant who appoints a safety officer to oversee safety. “This was not done in this project,” the source added.When contacted, BWSSB Chairman Tushar Girinath texted he was out of station.