Consultants flying into a panic

By R.K. Radhakrishnan

CHENNAI, JULY 18. Even as the CB-CID is burning the midnight oil to make the flyovers case meatier, many associated with the project are unhappy over the manner in which ``all sorts of people'' have been dragged.

It is said the CB-CID is not keen on dropping any of names at this point for fear such an act will weaken the case, which has already received some flak from the court.

Crime Branch officials, apart from spending time poring over files at the Ripon Building here, have sought the services of the first complainant - the leader of the Opposition in the Chennai Corporation Council, Mr. P. Vetrivel - to make their case more credible. Mr. Vetrivel spent almost the entire morning at the CB- CID office on Monday, answering the queries posed by the investigating team, sources said.

Meanwhile, officials and some local level politicians in the Corporation wonder why the CB-CID is still ``adamantly'' clinging to the view that consultants are to be blamed - at least in part - for the loss to the exchequer. One said that for this very reason, the entire flyover scam story rested on weak foundations.

This despite the Principal Sessions Judge, Mr. Ashok Kumar's poser why the CB-CID named the consultants in the First Information Report while leaving out the contractors.

``The consultant's role is limited everywhere. For instance, in the case of L & T Ramboll, this is limited to designing. This firm was in no way connected with the selection of contractors or construction supervision,'' said one engineer. Similarly, the inclusion of the name of Mr. N. S. Srinivasan, a respected traffic expert, who is still involved in projects in Bangalore and New Delhi, also made the agency look ``a little funny.''

L & T Ramboll is a joint venture between two Danish organisations and L & T and the Danish partners hold a 50 per cent equity. It is said the Danish partners are ``upset'' at the manner in which their firm has been drawn into ``unnecessary political battles between two parties.''

One consultant, who did not want to be named, said that given the L & T Ramboll experience, the firm would ``think twice'' before even bidding for anything in Tamil Nadu. L & T Ramboll too is not keen on any more Government project in the State, sources in the company said.

If this trend continued, it would be difficult to get the leading consultants involved in the major projects which needed to be taken up in Tamil Nadu, he added.

``We are doing this kind of work all over the country. In Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra even at this point we are involved in consultancy work. But no where have we been treated like this. Our Danish partners want to take up the issue with the Government of India,'' the sources added.

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Section  : Southern States
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