BMC Scraps Road Tenders; Road Work In New Year Tricky!
The pathetic plight of Mumbai roads is not hidden from anybody. The city is sick of condemning the pothole menace because, despite the flak, the civic body is not learning and the problem is only getting worse. Recently, in the Standing Committee meeting, the corporators raised eyebrows over the bad roads and demanded cancellation of contracts to tainted contractors. Thus, bowing to the public representatives’ fury, the BMC has scrapped all the existing contracts and invited contracts afresh.
According to sources, BMC has scrapped contracts worth Rs. 800 crore and ordered to start afresh the process of inviting new tenders. Since the BMC has cancelled road repairs contracts, Mumbaikars are worried as generally, the tender process takes a long time, some times over a year. Due to this Mumbaikars, who are already hit by poor roads, may face more trouble as in the New Year the road work seems impossible!
Agreeing over the delay in road work in the New Year, Prakash Shinde, President of S and T Ward Standing Committee said, “The process of tender is long. This year the tenders were invited in September and still the process is not complete. Thus, the new tenders may be finalised by March -April 2020.” He added, “What is worth pondering is that after the selection of a contractor the repair work takes another three to four months to start. Thus, the road repair work would start by July-August 2020, which is the monsoon season. Thus, road work seems impossible in 2020 and Mumbaikars will have to undergo the pain and trauma of travelling over the same pothole infested roads!”
Road work stopped in Mulund
With BMC scrapping the contracts, repair work of many important roads in Mulund has come to a halt. The roads where work has been stopped are those connecting Shamshan Bhoomi to Kelkar College in Mulund East and Tata Colony. In Mulund West, road near ACC Colony Masjid.
BMC rolls back to the old formula of 60:40 payments
For ensuring good quality roads, the BMC has returned to the old formula of 60:40 payment to the contractors. Under this formula, the contractor is paid just 60% payment on completing the road. The BMC holds back 40% payment to make sure that the road stays in good condition and is properly maintained during its warranty period. BMC Chief Praveen Pardesi told the media, “The reason behind rolling back to 60:40 payments formula is to tighten the screws on the contractors so that they do quality work that lasts 5 to 10 years. By blocking 40% payments, we are sure that they would not cheat and refrain from inferior work.”
New Tenders Policy
According to sources, this year, BMC has abolished the trend of awarding contracts for small roads. This year, contracts will be given only for long-distance roads. The reason behind the idea is that small contractors would automatically get side-lined and only reputed companies would submit tenders.
Secondly, BMC has adopted the 60:40 payment formula to make sure contractors do quality work and the roads have long durability of 5 to 10 years.
