Ignoring its own state-of-the-art laboratory, the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) employed a private lab to test water quality in Bengaluru lakes. Not just that, in an intriguing turn of events, all the four regional officers of the board in the city employed the same private laboratory, without issuing any tender.
An internal inquiry, led by KSPCB’s Chief Financial Officer (CFO) has indicted the regional offices for not floating a tender and circumventing the Karnataka Transparency in Public Procurements Act, 1999.
The report questions how all the regional offices have outsourced the work to a single lab — Robust Material Technology Pvt. Ltd., Nagarabhavi. In none of the cases was there an MoU with the lab or estimate costs of the tests submitted to the board. The laboratory has billed a total of Rs. 79 lakh, of which Rs. 12 lakh was paid as advance even before the tests were conducted, the report stated.
This is a blatant violation of rules as any work order above Rs. 20,000 comes under the ambit of the Karnataka Transparency in Public Procurement Act, and a tender has to be floated. Only the State Cabinet can exempt any work from the KTPP Act. However, no such exemption was given to this work order.
KSPCB Member Secretary Vijay Kumar confirmed that the board, in its meeting on Monday, decided to withhold further payments.
The laboratory has sought legal recourse, sources confirmed. KSPCB Chairman Vaman Acharya is travelling abroad and was unavailable for comment.
