The Indian Express 27.04.2013
BMC allots Rs 1,200 crore for road repairs this year
The BMC standing committee passed a proposal Friday allotting Rs
1,200 crore for construction and repair of roads this year. While Rs 900
crore has been set aside for major roads, minor ones will be
reconstructed at a cost of Rs 300 crore.
The money will be used through a new maintenance system under
which the civic body will assign one engineer the upkeep of every 8-12
km stretch. The new system is to be implemented next month.
The road engineers (REs) in each ward will be responsible for
maintenance and repair of roads less than 30 feet wide. Wider roads will
be the responsibility of engineers in the road department office.
REs have been asked to survey and submit a list of roads to be
reconstructed by May 15, after which BMC will invite tenders for repair
and construction. “REs will ensure upkeep and maintenance of stretches
assigned to them. They will also be able to call bids for road repairs
costing up to Rs 20 lakh,” said Aseem Gupta, additional municipal
commissioner.
Meanwhile, BMC has decided to conduct an audit of roads under the
defect liability period and ask contractors to undertake repairs before
monsoon.
The standing committee also gave contracts to maintain 158
gardens for a year. The proposal was cleared despite protests by
corporators and despite contractors bidding as low as 56 per cent below
the base price, raising quality concerns.
BMC said it was facing staff crunch and would not be able to
maintain the gardens developed in the last three years. “It was wrong to
bring such a proposal for approval before the standing committee when
the municipal commissioner has said proposals where bids are abysmally
low will not be tolerated,” said Manoj Kotak, BJP corporator and member
of the standing committee.
“It will take at least two months for fresh tenders. We will give these
contractors a month and also get their work audited for quality,” said
Gupta.