This story is from July 24, 2015

MCG probe admits to FOB project scam

The MCG committee probing the foot overbridge (FOB) scam has, in its preliminary report, stated that the location of at least two of the 11 FOBs under the scanner was chosen not for pedestrians to cross safely, but for commercial gains through ad revenue.
MCG probe admits to FOB project scam

GURGAON: The MCG committee probing the foot overbridge (FOB) scam has, in its preliminary report, stated that the location of at least two of the 11 FOBs under the scanner was chosen not for pedestrians to cross safely, but for commercial gains through ad revenue.
It also said the locations of all 11 FOBs were selectedwithout undertaking any study whatsoever. The four-member committee, set up by the civic body on orders of the chief minister, has sought a two-month period to file a full report.

Earlier this month, chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar asked MCG commissioner Vikas Gupta to submit a report into alleged financial bungling in the FOB project.
Khattar's directions came after a former sarpanch of Kanhai village alleged a Rs 400-crore scam in the footbridge project, including ad revenues that the private agency given the contract was also authorized to collect.
Of the 11 footbridges, only one has been completed while three others are under construction. and work on the rest is yet to begin.
The preliminary probe has also found that two of the FOBs — one coming up on MG Road (near Guru Dronacharya Metro station) and the other on Gurgaon-Faridabad Road (near Silver Oak apartments) — were entirely unnecessary. "The probe committee feels there is no need for an FOB at either site. At the Gurgaon-Faridabad road site, there is already a traffic signal for pedestrians to safely cross the road, right where the FOB is being built. Likewise, at the MG Road site, the Guru Dronacharya Metro station, which doubles as an FOB, is just a stone's throw away," said a
senior MCG official.
The official added, "Committee members, including an expert from the Central Road Research Institute (CRRI), agreed that MCG did not conduct the mandatory survey to find out how many vehicles and pedestrians pass through each of the 11 FOB locations before embarking upon the project. Clearly, the locations were decided for the convenience of the contractor, rather than facilitating pedestrians in crossing the road."
Meanwhile, according to officials in the civic body, the private agency that won the contract to build seven of the 11 FOBs is planning to take legal action against MCG, after the civic agency asked it last week to stop construction at all sites with immediate effect because of the probe, claiming that it would incur huge losses if it stopped work.
End of Article
FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA