The BMC has re-invited tenders for concretisation of 400 km of roads worth about Rs 6,079 crore, after cancelling tenders worth Rs 5,800 crore earlier this month for the same. The tenders were cancelled due to poor response from bidders.
“The number of tenders floated this time too have remained the same. Of the five tenders, three have been floated for the western suburbs due to the massive volume of work,” said an official. Additional m unicipal commissioner P Velrasu said, “The tender conditions have remained more or less the same.But we have revised the rates as the ones in the earlier tender were based on 2018 rates. The present ones are in sync with market rates. We expect a better response from bidder s with revised rates. ”
CM Eknath Shinde had earlier announced in the assembly that the entire road network of Mumbai would be concretised in two years in order to prevent potholes. Mumbai has around 2,000 km of roads, and over 989 km have already been concretised.
In August, BMC had floated five tenders inviting bids for concretisation. Three were for the western suburbs, while one was for the eastern suburbs and one for the island city.
However, response was poor. While the civic body received four bids for the western suburbs, there were two for the eastern suburbs and only one for the island city. The response continued to be poor despite multiple extensions given.
Former Congress corporator Ravi Raja said BMC needs to have proper focus and planning on the work to be carried out for citizens. “Currently, there is no transparency, and the commissioner lacks control over departments,” he said.
BJP MLA Ameet Satam said “no compromise should be made on conditions in the tender. Conditions should enablethem to keep away fly-by-night operato rs and ensure participation of listed infrastructure companies in bids. Utility corridor or ducting has to be incorporated in conditions. ”
Asenior official had earlier said that during pre-bid meetings for the cancelled tenders, interested parties had pointed out stringent conditions in the tenders like high p enalties and deferred payments, which were daunting. The BMC had thereafter decided to cancel tenders and re-float them with revised rates.
Earlier tender conditions did not allow joint ventures and the contractor needed to have experience in constructi ng state and national highways. The initial opening of bid packet for the August tender was scheduled for September 21. But multiple extensions were given through corrigend a. Later, a proposal was put up before the commissioner for sanction to re-invite tenders as it was stated corrigenda and changes had disturbed the sanctity of the tender.
