R ARIVANANTHAM
CHENNAI, DEC 15
Tamil Nadu Minister for Municipal Administration and Rural Development S.P. Velumani on Saturday refuted the corruption charges levelled against him by the Opposition leader M.K. Stalin.
Stalin had levelled charges against the minister that there was a scam to the tune of Rs. 1,000 crore in the procurement of M-sand for Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) projects.
In a statement issued here, the minister said tenders were being finalised as per the T.N. Tender Transparency Act. In the years 2017-18 and 2018-19, infrastructure projects worth Rs. 1,164.85 crore were carried out, involving sand-cement mixture.
Only 33% of the total expenditure was spent on constructions that required cement mixed with sand, which was valued at Rs. 384.04 crore. M-sand or river sand was just 8.5% of this concrete mixture, meaning only Rs. 32.67 crore was spent on m-sand and river sand for constructions, he pointed out.
Dismissing the claims of Opposition leader, the minister said, “ ‘How is it possible that there could be a Rs. 1,000-crore scam?’ in a Rs. 32.68-crore project”.
The minister Velumani said Stalin’s statement that m-sand was 50% less expensive than river sand was not correct.
He said, “Wondering how the Opposition leader, who held the portfolio of local administration department and was Mayor of the Greater Chennai Municipal Corporation earlier, did not know this fact.’’ The Minister accused that Stalin is just lying to gain political mileage.
You can also read this – http://navjeevanexpress.com/stalin-seeks-dvac-probe-into-sand-scam-in-chennai-corp/
