Ahmedabad: Four municipal officers, including two assistant engineers and two assistant city engineers of the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC), have been suspended for the discrepancies found in the construction of the AMC community hall built in the Sarkhej area of the city.

During an inspection in April, municipal commissioner M Thennarasan suspected that the contractor, who billed the AMC Rs 2.61 crore for a community hall project in Sarkhej, had cut corners amounting to Rs 44.89 lakh in concrete, steel bars, and critical lab tests.

Thennarasan’s scrutiny prompted a vigilance inquiry, resulting in the suspension of four officers. The AMC has also terminated its contract with the project management consultant (PMC) Technoman Consultant, and the contractor faced penalties along with a show cause notice.

The project, originally budgeted at Rs 13.67 crore, was awarded to Das Infrastructure Pvt Ltd, but investigations uncovered collusion between the contractor, PMC, and four AMC officials, leading to material misappropriation worth Rs 44.89 lakh. Despite receiving Rs 2.61 crore, the contractor allegedly compromised on quality.

The four suspended AMC officials are assistant engineers Grishma Shah and Bipin Chavda and assistant city engineers Dilawar Singh Hathila and Dhaval Gajjar.

The contractor was issued a recovery notice of Rs 44.89 lakh, and the PMC faces a show cause notice and possible blacklisting, according to an AMC official. DeshGujarat