No probe of toll contracts, committee's report soon: govt

The BJP-Shiv Sena government in Maharashtra today said in the Legislative Assembly that it had not instituted any probe into 'fraudulent' contracts for collection of toll on the roads in the state.
BJP and Shiv Sena, when in opposition, had targeted the the previous Congress-NCP regime over alleged corruption in toll contracts and collection, and demanded closure of toll plazas.
In a written reply to Amit Deshmukh (Congress) about closing of toll plazas, PWD minister Chandrakant Patil said the fact-finding committee on the issue will submit findings by the end of this month.
The government had not set up any probe, he said, in reply to Deshmukh's question.

In a written reply to a question by Chhagan Bhujbal (NCP), Patil said despite extension till July 31, 2014, the renovation of Mantralaya (state secretariat) was not complete.
The renovation became necessary after a major fire gutted several sections of the building in 2002.
The chief engineer, PWD, had been asked to take necessary action in this regard, the minister said.
The contractor had to undertake additional work which was not mentioned in the tender and some changes were made to the lay-out, which apparently caused the delay, he said.