It is one happy family. The PWD Minister as the patriarch,the local MLA mothering his constituency, PWD Offi cials as the sons and contractors,the son-in-laws of the department.
Documents with The Goan reveal a well-oiled machine thatworks in PWD, where every contractor, big or small, has a stake. While thesmart ones end up becoming the trusted lieutenants of the PWD Minister, the lesserfortunate ones like PWD Contractor Vishwas Harmalkar prefer to end their lives.
Almost half of the tendered works in three constituencies ofNavelim, Margao and Fatorda under Division VI were cornered by top sixcontractors. M Venkat Rao, the contractor who was awarded the contract for threebridges in Navelim constituency itself got contracts to the tune of Rs. 76.45crores.
Why one contractor ended up getting three bridge contractson one day with consecutive work orders raises questions aplenty.
Across the entire South Goa constituencies, contractorsincluding Dhanashree Builders, C K George and Sons and even Margao Municipal CouncilChairperson Arthur Silva’s D C Constructions were seen to corner a larger chunkof tender contracts. Silva’s D C Constructions topped the list with 34contracts worth 10.16 crores, in the three constituencies of Navelim, Margaoand Fatorda alone.
Dhanshree got 25 contracts worth Rs. 14.70 crores, C KGeorge got 24 contracts worth Rs 10.16 crores. PWD department has its comfortlevels with only a select few who get rewarded.
But then it is not only competency and closeness that getstender contracts in PWD.
Take for example, the case of Mallikarjun. Mallikarjun wasonce a building material loader turned middlemen turned contractor.
For an entity that subcontracts its’ works to other smallercontractors, Mallikarjun actually got nine contracts totaling Rs. 8.97 crores.PWD relied only on infl uence than experience. PWD’s contracts threwpractically all norms to the wind. Documents with The Goan reveal weirdpatterns of award.
Cases where perennial favourites, Dhanashree Builders, StarLabour CCSL would corner more contracts in Margao constituency establishes clearcut patterns.
While the numbers in PWD scams may not remind one of thelarger multi-crore scams that rock the country, what is established beyonddoubt is that PWD and contractors operate in an unholy alliance where thosewith higher stakes to offer survive, and thrive.
