Gadkari expresses dismay over officials' inadequate response to CAG on Dwarka Expressway, asks to fix responsibility

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

Nitin Gadkari has expressed dismay over the inadequate response to questions raised by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) which resulted in controversy over the cost of construction of Dwarka Expressway in Delhi. According to ministry sources, Gadkari has conveyed his displeasure with the lopsided attitude adopted by certain officials responsible for responding to queries raised by the CAG with regard to the cost of construction of the Dwarka Expressway at a high-level review meeting on Thursday.

The source said that the minister also directed to fix the responsibility of this lapse on the part of senior concerned officials. Earlier in the month, a political row erupted on the CAG report which flagged the high cost of construction of the Dwarka Expressway.

Earlier the ministry sources had said that in the absence of an adequate response from the ministry and the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI), the CAG adopted an incorrect methodology for computing the cost of Dwarka Expressway. They also explained that the CAG has simply divided the total cost of construction of Rs 91,000 crore (expenditure) under National Corridor Efficiency Programme with the project's entire length of 5,000 kilometres under development.

They had said the CAG has itself noted that the cost of construction of Rs 18.2 crore per kilometre does not include the cost norms for flyovers, ring roads, etc. They were of the view that the expressway in question has elevated roads, underpasses, tunnels and other components which were not part of the project.

The cost of Rs 91,000 crore for 5,000 km under Bharatmala Phase-I project was finalised by the ministry on August 10, 2016, for the year 2016-17 to the extent possible. The ministry sources