PWD orders monitoring of construction materials procured and consumed

New Delhi, May 30 (PTI) The Public Works Department (PWD) has directed its officials to strictly monitor procurement of construction materials for road and building projects, an order issued on Friday said.

The department has asked the heads of different wings to check the previous two years' records of supply of materials and their consumption at different project sites.

"At the time of approval of the GEM (government e-marketplace) orders of supply of materials, junior engineers, assistant engineers and executive engineers will certify that they have checked the record of supply and consumption of the materials procured in the last two years and the current year and found it in order," the PWD's order said.

Earlier in February this year, the department had directed officials to maintain a 'road history register' for a proper record of expenditure incurred on road repair projects and when a particular road was last repaired.

However, those orders are not being followed by engineers.

"It has been noticed from verbal inquiries that the mentioned office memorandum is not being complied with by field formations. Therefore, all supervisory-level officers, i.e., superintending engineers and chief engineers, are directed to find the reasons for non-compliance and issue suitable instructions to such officials," the order added.

According to officials, the compliance of these instructions will be checked by the PWD's 'Quality Assurance Unit' during inspection of works and any shortcoming noticed in compliance of the same will be brought to the notice of those concerned.

PWD Minister Parvesh Verma had earlier ordered an internal inquiry against officials involved in poor construction work of judicial quarters in Dwarka.

As part of the PWD's 100-day action plan presented to Chief Minister Rekha Gupta last month, the introduction of a road history register to keep accurate accounts was a priority.

In a bid to bring in more transparency in its functioning, the PWD is also developing a software for online measurement of project site to keep track of the progress made and the amount of construction materials used. PTI SSM AS AS