Denying fair bidding, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has offered a Rs12-crore consultancy job to a certain agency without inviting fresh tenders.
A proposal to this regard is likely to be discussed soon by the civic standing committee, which takes financial decisions in the corporation.
In the wake of the unprecedented July 26, 2005 inundation, the BMC has been carrying out works of upgrading drains in city. Scope of the work includes upgrading of the drains' capacity from the old 25mm per hour to 50mm per hour. Accordingly, it has completed training of nearly 85km of 110 km-long major drains in the island city. Now, in the second phase, the civic body has proposed to also upgrade the carrying capacity of minor and roadside drains. The corporation will be conducting a survey before undertaking the work, spending Rs12 crore. The consultancy contract, however, has come under scanner as the corporation did not invite tenders for the same.
Opposition leader and member of standing committee Devendra Amberkar has questioned the move by the municipal administration. "The BMC is allowing the job to a certain contractor (MWH) without conducting fair competition. This leads to doubts if it wants to favour the company concerned," said Amberkar adding that his Congress party will oppose the proposal when tabled for discussion.
When asked, Laxman Vhatkar, BMC's director for engineering services and projects, said no unfair practice was followed while recommending the company's name. "The new job is additional activity, part of broader work of improving major drains. Besides, this is a work requiring expertise. Hence, we have recommended the agency's name for consultancy service," Vhatkar added.
Drains in city
* Minor drains (less than 1.5 metre in width) – 160km
* Roadside drains (1 ft to 3 ft in width) – 2,000 km
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