BMC planned to establish a casting yard to assemble and store heavy machinery and girders near construction sites. New casting yards will save time and money for the corporation during the completion of mega projects in Mumbai. The Bridges department of the municipality has invited tenders and appealed to private landowners, firms, and builders to lease their open spaces to the BMC on a three-year basis, which the corporation can use as a casting yard for the next three years.
The tender conditions
According to a BMC official, mega projects like the Versova to Dahisar sea link, the Dahisar to Mira Road flyover bridge, and the construction of a flyover on Mahim to Bandra Western Express Highway require a casting yard to manufacture parts of the bridge. As per the tender conditions, if the contractor uses their land for casting, BMC will pay the rent for the casting land.
BMC implements various infrastructural projects in Mumbai. Many parts of the bridges and construction works are manufactured outside Maharashtra. While constructing the Himalaya Bridge and Gokhale Bridge, BMC had to wait until the girder arrives at the site. Now, BMC has decided to lease private land from private and government entities.
BMC to spend 1% to 2% of entire project budget on casting yards
BMC will spend around one to two percent of the entire project budget on casting yards. Three mega projects are in the pipeline, and the cost is estimated to be more than eighteen thousand crores.
According to sources, if BMC is unable to provide land for a casting yard in the Dahisar Versova link road project, BMC will have to pay around Rs 256 crores to the construction company. In addition, for the Dahisar to Mira Road flyover project, BMC has allocated Rs 224 crores to pay the rent for the casting yard. Recently, BMC paid Rs 134 crores to the contractor for the casting yard for the tunnel work on the Goregaon Mulund link road.
