With unusually low quotations, the road works, which were pegged at Rs350 crore, will get the civic body a meagre Rs235.75 crore.
Expect the end of the road for potholes as contractors go on laying roads in days to come? Bad news, the same old cartels, however, bagged the contracts for the construction of 550 new minor roads on Monday.
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) saw no new face among the contractors. Worse, with unusually low quotations, the road works, which were pegged at Rs350 crore, will get the civic body a meagre Rs235.75 crore.
The bids dropped lower than 30% of the estimated prices. The stretch of road between Goregaon and Kandivli saw the lowest bid of 29.7%.
Road department officials claim that this is the first time that quotations have dived so low.
The 40 contractors found themselves neck and neck in the poor bidding. Of the 24 contractors who qualified for the tender, 21 quoted 23% below the BMC’s estimates.
The low quotations, submitted by 90% of the road contractors, have begun to cast shadows on the quality of the work to be expected.
“We will scrutinise the rate analysis document before awarding the contract. The document will provide us the details of expenses to be incurred by a contractor and the profit/loss component. Once that is found satisfactory a contractor will be deemed qualified for the contract,” said Satish Badve, chief engineer, road department.
Some quoted substantially low bids for more than two wards. But, officials said they have a system in place to cut down monopoly and enhance efficiency. “A contractor will not be given more than two works. This will ensure that no shoddy work is done,” a senior official said.
Geneva-based auditor SGS Consultant will monitor the work progress and the quality of roads.
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