BMC scraps old contracts; reinvites bids for road repair and maintenance work

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), on Wednesday, September 29, 2021, decided to scrap the tenders which were invited for for road repairs and maintenance. As per reports, the same faced controversy due to the quotes received by the contractors and considering the same, the authorities will soon reinvite bids.

A report regarding the same was published in the Hindustan Times which said that the tenders will be reinvited with additional roads being added to the list and the cost has been increased to INR 2,200 crore. It is being said that the previous bids were received much lower than the estimated cost and this was not appreciated by the BMC, basis which a letter of justification was sought from the deputy municipal commissioner of infrastructure and questions were raised on how the contractor would maintain the quality of the roads at such a low cost.

The publication quoted Additional Municipal Commissioner P Velrasu, who, in the letter said, “I have received 30 tender files on the road works in city, eastern and western suburbs. It is surprising to see most of the tenders are quoted very much on the lower side. The department needs to explain how it intends to maintain the quality under control. When road supervision of 100% is not possible during the execution at senior level, how will the quality of execution be ensured by the road department?”

The decision to reinvite the bids was announced after consulting with Municipal Commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal, and officials have strictly mentioned the condition to  ensure the quality of the road is maintained and met as decided. Quality monitoring will be conducted regularly by auditors who have been planned for every zone in the city and the number has increased from the previously hired three auditors for all the zones. 

Furthermore, the department has decided that 20 per cent of the payment will only be released between 6 to 10 years of the contract, if the roads are repaired as planned. This would be released in installments of four per cent each year starting from the sixth year, based on the tests conducted on the roads for quality purposes.

Observing these decisions, leaders from the opposition party - BJP - have slammed the BMC for not taking a decision on the same and demands have been made to reissue tenders, however, no movement has been noted in this matter, they said.