Graft in Smart City project: Dr Tamilisai Soundararajan sends report to Centre

Hyderabad: Governor Dr Tamilisai Soundararajan is said to have sent a report to the Union government on the alleged irregularities in Karimnagar Smart City project tenders and the reported involvement of some ruling party leaders of erstwhile Karimnagar district in illegal granite mining in Karimnagar.

Recently, Karimnagar BJP MP, B. Sanjay Kumar, had recently complained to the Governor that the Karimnagar Smart City Development Corporation had awarded the contract of road works on a nomination basis in violation of the tender norms.

According to the MP, the union ministry of urban development had allocated Rs 1,878 crore to the project and the Karimnagar corporation had invited tenders twice.

On both occasions, the tenders were rejected. Though the contractors moved the High Court for the re-tendering process, the corporation, without inviting tenders, allocated the works on a nomination basis on August 23.

The MP also complained to the governor alleging that in the granite mining in the district, some ruling party leaders were involved and they evaded seigniorage charges to the tune of around `748 crore to the state exchequer.

According to the MP, the vigilance and enforcement department earlier conducted an enquiry into the alleged illegal mining and issued notices to granite quarry owners demanding the seigniorage charges including the penalty. Instead of paying the tax, they carried on with the mining with the support of some ruling party MLAs and ministers.

The MP requested the governor to initiate an inquiry into the alleged illegalities in smart city tenders and granite mining through the concerned authorities. Meanwhile, sources close to Raj Bhavan revealed that the governor had sent a report to the Union home ministry based on the representation of the MP.