Referring to flip-flops by a firm while carrying out repair work at Bhakra Right Bank Power House of BBMB during the Covid-19 pandemic, Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) has alleged that “precious months were lost in this imbroglio”.
Sources say an Uttarakhand-based firm first sought Rs 37 lakh as additional charges to fix some technical issues during maintenance in 2021 but later agreed to fix the issues without any additional cost. This issue, along with several other agendas, was raised during a meeting of BBMB (Bhakra Beas Management Board) in August this year which was attended by the officers of Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Centre and the BBMB. In response to the minutes of the meeting, the Punjab government – after taking comments from the PSPCL – communicated its stand to the board in September this year.
The Punjab government communication reads as: “Contractor firm sought additional charges for the work because as per firm the same cannot be done on site and has to be carried out in the controlled conditions/precision machining on factory premises. Later… (the firm) had agreed to carry out repair of thrust collar and runner disc without any cost/conditions on BBMB, but it is stated that unit no-7 has been commissioned on 22.11.2021 without any repair of thrust collar and runner. Precious months were lost in this imbroglio.”
BBMB’s former financial advisor and chief account officer Rajinder Kumar and former chief engineer of the board Balbir Singh had alleged power generation loss during maintenance of unit 7 of Bhakra Right Bank Power House. Allegations of gross mismanagement and delay in maintenance were also levelled.
During the BBMB meeting in August, its management informed the board members that the work order amounting to Rs 1.68 crore for maintenance was given to an Uttarakhand-based firm in June 2020 and the machine was handed over to the firm in October 2020 with scheduled completion date of March 3, 2021. The management pointed out that due to Covid-19, various restrictions were imposed by state governments which resulted in delays in movement and execution of work during the period. It also said some technical issues were faced by the firm during re-assembly of the unit.
“To resolve the issue, the firm submitted a proposal for repair/replacement of component as an additional work at a cost of Rs 37 lakh…no additional payment was made to the firm, rather on the contrary, the maximum penalty of 20%, as per provisions of the work order, was imposed on the firm for delays,” the BBMB management said in the August meeting.
In response to the queries of officers of Haryana and Rajasthan –whether there was any spilling of water – the BBMB management said: “…As such, there was no point of spilling and not a single drop of water was released from Bhakra Dam without generation during the period of capital maintenance of unit-7.” The management also termed the allegation of any generation loss on account of delay in maintenance “absolutely baseless”.
On the other hand, in a recent communication to the BBMB, Balbir Singh had demanded action against the responsible officials on the basis of findings of a committee “for lack of supervision of maintenance work”.
According to Balbir Singh, BBMB is only custodian of property of partner states which provide funds as per their share for establishment as well as works.
