Same old road contractors to get BMC nod

MUMBAI: The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s roads department has
decided to go ahead with the same contractors who had bid abnormally
low, between 38% and 48%, for road work contract (RWC).But a
different set of rules seems to apply for the civil work contract (CWC),
which too saw low bidding. A “viability test” will be held for CWC.Despite such low bidswhich raise doubts over the work quality, the
civic roads department has decided to go ahead with the same
contractors. on the pretext that it would be “illegal” to scrap the
bids.However, the department has maintained that the civic body would check the workability of the amount quoted by the contractors.

Additional municipal commissioner Aseem Gupta
said, “It would be illegal to scrap the bids without checking its
workability. We will monitor the contractors’ work and subsequently take
action, if deemed necessary.”The BMC
maintains that the viability test to be done for CWC will not be
possible for road works contract (RWC). While certain projects will be
selected for the CWC viability test, the same may not reflect in the
case of RWC, if certain items are chosen randomly. “We cannot select
certain items for RWC. It will not reflect the true picture,” added
Gupta.

TOI on July 3 had reported that the new system, called
RWC, was meant to replace the CWC for ward-level roads but the
contractors had bid 38-48 % lower than the scheduled rate. For the
island city, the BMC received 18 bids with RK Madhani, the lowest
bidder, quoting 38% below the scheduled rate, while the western and
eastern suburbs have the same company, Prime Civil, bidding 48% lower.
The two-year contracts cost Rs 240 crore and each ward will be given Rs
10 crore.After the uproar following low bidding in CWC, the BMC
set up a three-member panel to look into the matter and had asked the
contractors for a rate analysis.

The civic chief finally took a decision
to conduct a viability test, which has been welcomed by corporators
cutting across the party lines.But the RWC decision has caught flak of the public representatives. SP group leader and standing committee member Rais Shaikh told TOI, “Once again, this portrays the BMC’s inconsistency. How can they have two different rules for civil works?”BOX:HOW THE NEW SYSTEM WORKSRoad work contract involves petty work at the ward level and includes
small repairs caused due to trenching, etc. This was earlier part of the
civil work contract.

Each engineer will have three to four roads under
his care and will be in-charge of every activity on that road-be it
filling of potholes, digging trenches, laying down of storm water drain
or painting zebra crossing. The BMC has already numbered all the city
roadsRWC is part of a larger road system, Road Maintenance
Management System (RMMS), that the civic body had planned to launch this
Independence Day. “We are ready with the system. The final go-ahead
will be given in the coming few days,” said Aseem Gupta, AMC.