Copy-paste fiasco: Bengaluru civic body slaps Rs 5-lakh penalty on Rodic Consultants for tunnel road DPR

Deputy CM DK Shivakumar with BBMP Chief commissioner Tushar Giri Nath

The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has imposed a penalty of Rs 5 lakh on New Delhi-based Rodic Consultants Private Limited after facing severe embarrassment.

The Bengaluru civic body is under scrutiny for an alleged 'copy-paste job' in the Rs 9.5-crore tunnel road Detailed Project Report (DPR) prepared by the consultant, which mentioned cities from Maharashtra, instead of Karnataka.

On January 6, Moneycontrol published a report titled 'Bengaluru civic body under lens for alleged copy-paste job’, highlighting the issue.

BBMP officials said they imposed the Rs 5 lakh penalty after it was discovered that the executive summary of the DPR contained names of places in Maharashtra, instead of Karnataka. Specifically, in a chart related to traffic volume counts and cordon locations (Table 15, page 29), the consultant had listed Malegaon and Nashik in eight columns, indicating traffic volumes between these two locations.

A day after Moneycontrol's report, Rodic Consultants Private Limited wrote a letter to the executive engineer. "We are currently investigating the matter concerning the inadvertent compilation error identified in Table 15 of the executive summary. Upon completion of our investigation, appropriate action will be taken against the personnel involved in this error," it said.

Also read: Bengaluru civic body under lens for alleged ‘copy-paste job’ in Rs 9.5 crore tunnel road DPR prepared by consultant

"We are committed to ensuring transparency and maintaining a zero-tolerance policy towards such errors. We appreciate your understanding and cooperation as we work towards rectifying this issue," said the statement. "The inadvertent compilation error in the executive summary is regretted, and we apologise for this error made during the drafting stage. We assure you that such an error will not occur in the final DPR submission."

The letter further stated: "It is regretted that a wrong table 15 of the executive summary was inadvertently inserted, which is a compilation error... It may be noted that the traffic data in Chapter 7 has been used for preparing the draft DPR. There is no error in the draft DPR regarding traffic data or its analysis."

Also read: Rodic Consultants to prepare DPR for Bengaluru's first tunnel road; to submit report in two months

Opposition BJP raked up the issue and slammed the ruling Congress in Karnataka. "The DPR for Bengaluru's tunnel road project has an address from Maharashtra! This glaring blunder in such a critical document shows the sheer negligence at play. If this is carelessness in the planning phase, imagine the disaster awaiting if the project moves forward! This so-called 'tunnel project' is nothing but a massive cash cow for the @INCKarnataka to line their pockets while looting Kannadigas' hard-earned tax money. A brazen scam to rob Karnataka!" the BJP wrote on X (formerly Twitter).

Speaking to reporters, BBMP Chief Commissioner Tushar Girinath admitted to errors in the detailed project but claimed that it was a compiling error.

Also read: 'Brand Bengaluru' caught between DK Shivakumar’s vanity projects and city's crumbling infra

“When we gave the draft report to the banks for financing, we were initially thinking of financing the North-South and East-West Corridors together. Later, we decided to complete the DPR for the North-South Corridor first and then proceed with the East-West Corridor. During the transition, in a hurry, an error was made with Table 15 in the executive summary. But all the other chapters are consistent. The one page that had the mistake was a compiling error,” said Girinath.

"However, we do not accept the allegation that because of one error, the entire DPR is a copy-paste job and that it’s a waste of expenditure," he added.

BBMP had also hired another consultant, Altinok Consulting, for the feasibility study along the same corridor at Rs 4.7 crore. In contrast, Bengaluru Metro's 37-km Hebbal-Sarjapur corridor DPR was prepared by RINA Consulting. Metro's DPR, costing Rs 1.5 crore, was submitted to BMRCL in a year.

Also read: Bengaluru civic body to borrow Rs 19,000 crore for tunnel road project