Two MCC engineers suspended for misappropriation

Mysuru: Two engineers in the Mysuru City Corporation (MCC) have been suspended by the state government for furnishing two bills for the same project executed on a stretch of Mahatma Gandhi (MG) Road. Assistant executive engineer Sunil Babu and junior engineer MN Mohana Kumari have been accused of misappropriating funds to the tune of Rs 1.4 crore.
Undersecretary of the urban development department Nagaraj issued the suspension order on June 1, and the two MCC engineers were subsequently suspended from service on Tuesday. Besides suspending officials of the civic agency, the order issued by the urban development department has put Karigowda, the contractor charged by the MCC with the execution of the project, on the blacklist for his involvement in fiscal irregularities.
The suspension order was issued in pursuance of a report submitted by the MCC Fact Finding Committee, which probed alleged irregularities in the projects overseen by the civic agency, to the state government in April.
Headed by Mysuru mayor Pushpalatha Jagannath, the committee drafted a 28-page report, which found its way to the government through MCC commissioner Shilpa Nag. In its report, the committee called for strict action against the errant officials and the contractor involved in the project. MCC Council secretary Rangaswamy is credited with having prepared the report.
The misappropriation of government funds was exposed by leader of the opposition in the MCC Council BV Manjunath, who demanded that those involved in the scam be held accountable, and action initiated against them, at a meeting held on January 29. The embezzlement came to acquire the label ‘Double-Bill Scam’.
The scam began with bids being invited for work on a stretch of MG Road from the Mysuru District Court building to National Highway-212. Karigowda won the bid for Rs 3.21 crore, with a commitment to the MCC that the project would be executed in three phases. While he was paid Rs 2.28 crore for completion of the first two phases of the project, it was alleged that a discrepancy was found in the bill produced for the third phase, when it was found that the MCC was charged Rs 1.38 crore in excess.
The funds for the project were allocated from the special grants provided by the State Finance Commission.
Taking cognisance of the gravity of the offence, the MCC Council decided to constitute a fact finding panel headed by the mayor. A probe conducted by MCC committee, with the assistance of engineers from the public works department, found that the allegations were true, and suitable action against those found to be in the wrong recommended to the state government.