The BMC has cancelled the second tender for maintenance and operation of the Deonar abattoir. Now, the civic body will revamp the abattoir as per the guidance of the Union ministry of food processing industries. In July, the civic body had cancelled the first tender related to construction and civil engineering works.
Additional municipal commissioner Ashish Sharma said, “It automatically got cancelled as it had lapsed. We are in talks with the officials of the Union ministry of food processing industries. Other states revamping their slaughterhouses are in touch with the ministry. We have followed their footsteps to avoid technical snag while drafting tenders,” he added.
The civic body had floated global tenders worth Rs 402 crore in March this year, aiming to revamp the largest slaughterhouse of the country by setting up a food processing plant, largest refrigerator system to store meat, loading-unloading ramps, solar roofs, separate slaughtering units, waste disposal units and construction of rain water harvesting system.
The first tender was scrapped in July. “The contractor for construction works was also assigned the operation and maintenance work. It is not possible for one single contractor to handle construction, which involves civil and electrical works, along with maintenance that requires mechanical equipment,” said a senior official.
The official also pointed out that the BMC didn’t receive any bid for the project, which was also the reason to cancel it.
BJP corporators and leaders had opposed the tenders, alleging cartelisation in the bidding process. They also alleged that the BMC and the erstwhile Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government had tweaked tenders in a manner that only foreign companies would get benefit. The BJP had also alleged that the consultant appointed by the BMC was blacklisted by the Pune Municipal Corporation.
BJP Corporator Vinod Mishra, who had raised the issue said, “The entire project was planned in an unscientific manner. Mere scrapping is not sufficient. FIR should also be registered against the officers, consultants and leaders of the MVA government who had drafted these tenders.”
