GURGAON: The MCG commissioner has hit back at detractors who accused him of delaying work by deliberately not clearing files promptly. Praveen Kumar said the executive engineers had goofed up while preparing estimates of development projects and therefore the files need to be checked thoroughly before being cleared.

Without apportioning blame at the very outset, Kumar said, “I am aware of the allegations levelled against me by various people, including councilors. They say I am intentionally sitting on the files that have piled up on my table. Some have also said that I am trying to slow down the process of clearing the files in order to favour some contractor or the other.”

The MCG chief then justified himself saying that he had come across “a number of weaknesses in the estimates pertaining to projects, such as laying of water pipelines, construction of community centres and so on “. “The estimates cannot be passed as they are and have to be improved . That is the reason for the delay in clearing the pending files,” Kumar said.

He also stressed that he was not going to let anybody bulldoze him into signing on the files hastily. “Crores of rupees are being spent on development projects. For example, Rs 35 crore is being spent on developing Badshapur alone. This is a huge amount and if I find something wrong, it my duty to stop the ongoing work immediately. It is not true that I am halting any work so I can award the contract to a new contractor. I have only sought change of design and material for pipes and manholes and not of the existing contractor,” he said.

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