Hindustan Times 14.08.2013
BMC to include court suggestions in its plan
First, payment to contractors will be made in installments, and second third-party auditor will be included in the process of formulation of tender conditions as well as scrutiny of bids.
Additional municipal commissioner, SVR Srinivas, said, “Two of the six issues that were pointed out in the court’s notice were discussed in detail. We will look at the way forward by including the arguments that developed in the court and will focus on information technology-enabled road monitoring.”
However, questions of hurdles faced at the implementation stage and a check on the quality of technical work carried out by contractors were still left unanswered.
On Tuesday, the high court questioned the BMC’s payment system in which only 10% of the total amount to be paid to the contractors is withheld till the end of the three-year or five-year defect liability period.
This results in less accountability on the part of the contractor.
“The court’s suggestion to devise an installment system of payment and including third-party auditor at the stage of tender formulation will be considered while formulating the next plan of action,” said Srinivas.
The BMC also plans to seriously implement IT-enabled services for monitoring road work and ensure coordinated placement of utilities.
Activists, on the other hand, maintained that no system would hold good if it was not followed in its entirety.
“If work specifications are followed by contractors then a major part of the problem would be tackled,” said Sudhir Badami, activist and member of the 2006 HC-appointed road monitoring committee.
