Cracking the whip, the government today directed confiscation of the Rs 183 crore bank guarantee furnished by private builder Emaar-MGF and legal action against it after "irregularities" and deficiencies were found in the Commonwealth Games Village constructed by it.
The direction was given by the Urban Development ministry to the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) which had given the contract to the builder for the Games Village.
"DDA has been told to invoke the Rs 183 crore bank guarantee furnished by Emaar-MGF for several irregularities in the Games Village construction," sources in UD Ministry said.
This would mean that the developer cannot encash the bank guarantee.
The decision came a day after DDA submitted an interim report to the UD ministry in which it said there were "various deficiencies" and "irregularities" in construction of the Village and the builder had exceeded the permissible limits of construction.
Besides invoking the bank guarantee, UD ministry in a letter to the DDA Vice Chairman asked him to initiate legal action against Emaar-MGF for recovery of other expenditure over and above the bank guarantee furnished by the project developer.
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There are provisions in the project development agreement for taking legal action and invocation of bank guarantee for deficiencies and irreguralities in execution of the project, the sources said.
The report has been prepared by the DDA on the directive of Urban Development Minister Jaipal Reddy.
According to the interim report, the project developer failed to achieve the milestones in time and make payments to various statutory bodies agencies like Delhi Jal Board, and BSES for making services available.
The report has mentioned large number of defects in the construction which have not been attended to by the project developer.
"Such defects pertain to basement, lift pits, non-installation of required number of hydro-pneumatic pumps, water proofing of terrace, fixures for balonies, inadequate power connection, choking of pipes, incomplete landscaping," said the report.
Prior to the Games, a number of foreign delegates had criticised the conditions at the Village, saying it was "unlivable" and "filthy".