Mumbai: The BMC has imposed a fine of Rs 20 lakh each on two contractors for delivering substandard work. Another contractor has been barred from participating in tenders for two years due to delays in road concretisation.
Additionally, the civic body has revoked the registrations of two Ready-Mix Concrete (RMC) plants after they failed slump tests, banning them from supplying concrete for municipal projects for the next six months.
A day after Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde called for strict action against contractors involved in subpar road construction, the BMC has blacklisted a contractor for serious delays and poor execution of a road concretisation project.
The action follows an inspection that revealed the substandard quality of the Dinkar Rao Desai Marg project in Aarey Colony. "Despite being given an opportunity to rectify the issues, the contractor failed to take timely corrective action, resulting in further delays. The explanation provided was deemed unsatisfactory," said a BMC official.
As a result, the contractor has been blacklisted from participating in BMC tenders for the next two years and has been fined Rs 5 lakh. During surprise inspections at Dr. Neetu Mandke Marg in Mankhurd and Jail Road in Dongri, discrepancies in concrete quality were found.
Contractors and RMC plants were issued notices, and since the explanations were unsatisfactory, each was fined Rs 20 lakh, registrations were cancelled, and they were barred from supplying concrete to BMC projects for six months.
Shinde conducted an inspection of ongoing road works on Tuesday, directing officials to take strict action against contractors involved in low-quality construction. In response, BMC Commissioner Bhushan Gagrani emphasised that substandard work will not be tolerated.
The BMC has already completed the concretisation of 1,333 km of roads, with remaining projects split into two phases: 698 roadworks (324 km) in Phase 1 and 1,420 roads (377 km) in Phase 2. Contractors have been instructed not to dig up newly concretised roads and to complete all underground utilities work before starting concreting process.
