Vetrivel charges CM’s family with corruption in road contracts

Speaking to the media, Vetrivel accompanied by another Dinakaran supporter Thangathamizhselvan said the government had lost about Rs 1500 crore due to the awarding of the tenders, which had only single bidders, despite the huge value of the projects. 

They appealed to Governor Banwarilal Purohit to inquire into the charges. The tenders come under the Highways Department which is in charge of the Chief Minister, he said. The projects included four laning of Oddanchattram-Dharapuram-Avinashipalayam Highway for a stretch of 70 km at a cost of Rs 713.45 crore. 

In this contract, the tender had been settled and work order had been issued for Rs 1,200 crore, besides a cash grant of Rs 315 crore. The total benefit to the contractor is Rs 800 crore, since the cost of the project is only Rs 713 crore. 

The beneficiary in the contract is RL Chandrahasan, who is a co-brother of Chief Minister’s son Mithun, he alleged. The second project involved the four-laning of Tirunelveli-Sengottai-Kollam road for a stretch of 45.64 km. The tender had been settled and work order issued for Rs 720 crore, besides the cash grant of Rs 180 crore. But, the estimated project cost is Rs 407.76 crore and the net benefit for the contractor is Rs 500 crore. The beneficiaries in this contract are Venkatachalapathy and Co who is the single bidder. The owner of the company P Subramaniam is the father-in-law of Mithun, son of the Chief Minister. The total loss for the government is Rs 1300 crore. 

Besides, a contract for four-laning to six-laning of Vandalur-Walajabad road had resulted in loss of Rs 200 crore for the government. The beneficiaries are J Sekar Reddy and S Nagarajan, the disqualified MLA alleged. When contacted about the allegations, Fisheries Minister D Jayakumar said he would react to the charges later after going into them.