DTC officer queried over inferior batteries

NEW DELHI: A top Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) official has come under scrutiny after a vigilance raid seized inferior quality batteries meant for buses from a depot. The official, alongwith others, is being questioned by the vigilance officers. A raid by vigilance officials last week led to the seizure of batteries, which were rejected by a government body for not meeting the required standards.The six-volt batteries were recovered from the premises of Banda Bahadur Marg depot in north Delhi. They batteries had been delivered by the company executives only recently. The seized batteries have been valued at Rs five lakh. Sources said they were a part of the Rs 1.5 crore consignment to be purchased by the DTC. ''These batteries were purchased even before an approval was granted by the DTC board,'' a source said. The official, suspected to be instrumental in the purchase of these batteries, is a deputy chief general manager. The official was entrusted with purchasing equipment meant for the buses. DTC purchases about 10,000 batteries every year for its fleet of buses. A bus requires four six-volt batteries at any given point of time. The corporation usually purchases these batteries in bulk, in coordination with Association of State Road Transport Undertakings (ASRTU). ASRTU had found these batteries unfit on technical grounds. ''There were no purchase orders for the batteries of the particular company. Ideally, purchase orders are prepared by the material purchase department but, in this case, no such order had been placed,'' an official said. The role of depot manager is also under scanner. ''Senior and middle-rung officials are found to be involved in the purchase of these items,'' the official said. DTC chairman A J S Sawhney confirmed the raid. He said:''I have asked for a report from the vigilance team. We are still examining the matter.'' He refused to name the officers involved though. Sources said information about the purchase of inferior quality equipment was received by the vigilance department from one of the DTC officials only.