- Ahmedabad civic body found major financial fraud in stormwater and drainage line projects
- Four senior engineers were suspended for tampering with measurement books and billing
- Dhruvi Buildcon received Rs 2.40 crore for fabricated work
Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) Commissioner Banchhanidhi Pani has initiated strict disciplinary action following severe financial irregularities detected in the laying of new stormwater and drainage lines. An initial probe by the civic body's vigilance department exposed systematic fraud, including the tampering of official measurement books, duplication of bills, and a massive discrepancy between actual on-site progress and recorded figures.
In a swift response, the commissioner suspended four high-ranking engineering officials while ordering an FIR and blacklisting the involved contractors.
According to the vigilance report, a contract worth approximately Rs 2.58 crore was awarded to Dhruvi Buildcon Pvt. Ltd for installing a new stormwater line in the East Zone, with the company already receiving a payout of Rs 2.40 crore. However, a physical inspection of the site revealed that the recorded work was entirely fabricated. Investigators discovered that officials had simply copied and pasted measurement data from a 2024 project executed by another firm in the Vastral ward. This allowed Dhruvi Buildcon to pocket Rs 76.17 lakh for work that was never performed.
The inquiry further revealed that pages of the official measurement book were deliberately swapped to insert fraudulent data for 900 mm and 1200 mm diameter pipelines to cover up the scam. Furthermore, substandard construction of manholes led to an additional loss of Rs 20.95 lakh to the civic body. Taking a serious note of the institutional corruption, Commissioner Pani suspended Additional City Engineer Rajesh Rathwa, Deputy City Engineer Utkarsh Bhabhor, Assistant City Engineer Ramesh Baria, and Assistant Engineer Alpesh Makwana pending a formal departmental inquiry.
The AMC has launched legal proceedings to recover a total of Rs 81.70 lakh, including interest, from the errant officials and contractors. Additionally, Dhruvi Buildcon and Bhagirath Construction have been barred from securing any new civic contracts, and instructions have been issued to file a police case against them for forging government documents.
