Road work worth Rs1,000 crore is held up and cannot begin before next year because of glitches in the online tendering of contracts.
Road work worth Rs1,000 crore is held up and cannot begin before next year because of glitches in the online tendering of contracts.
To bring in transparency in road maintenance, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) had earlier this month announced e-tendering of all road projects. It had also increased the capital expenditure on roads to Rs1,000 crore from Rs500 crore.
But the work is stalled as the e-tendering software isn’t operational yet. “Online tendering for road maintenance or construction of new roads is an elaborate procedure. For the first time, the BMC has introduced such a system. We want foolproof software in place before its implementation. Several trials have been conducted so far,” said RN Kulkarni, chief engineer, roads.
The BMC had conceptualised a phase-wise tender for the maintenance of roads. An e-tender worth Rs500 crore for phase I was slated to be floated by mid-November.
Around Rs300 crore will be spent on repairing roads handed over by the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority. The remaining amount will be spent on the maintenance of roads less than 30 feet in width and on repairs of trenches and potholes. The state government-appointed Standing Technical Advisory Committee (STAC) will also present its recommendations on concretisation and maintenance of roads to the BMC by December 3.
“The tendering and bidding procedure will start by December 10. The work will begin in full swing by February 1,” said additional municipal commissioner Aseem Gupta.
However, BJP corporator Bhalchandra Shirsat said, “Due to the monsoon, roads can’t be dug after March. Considering the pace at which the administration is functioning, there is little hope that the repairs will be completed before the monsoon.”
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