Ganesh Chaturthi is around the corner and the potholes on city roads are still gaping. With no bidders for the tenders that it had floated, the BMC is now bending backwards and relaxing the conditions to attract contractors.
In the previous tender, the civic body had kept 50 per cent of the project amount as defect liability, in case the potholes reappear soon after filling. This amount has now been reduced to 10 per cent. It had decided to fill all potholes on priority with two new mixtures – geopolymer and rapid hardening technology – as Ganeshotsav will be celebrated with large processions after a gap of two years.
The BMC had recently invited tenders worth Rs 5 crore for the project and mentioned that Rs 3 crore will be spent on the roads in the western suburbs, Rs 1 crore will be reserved for the eastern suburbs, and another Rs 1 crore will be for the city.
A roads department officer said, “There has been a deserved demand from the public about pothole free roads, but no one showed interest. At a meeting a few contractors said they can’t comply with the condition regarding the defect liability amount. We have reconsidered the issue and invited fresh tenders.” Under the new conditions, the BMC will pay a 90 per cent amount after the project and the remaining 10 per cent amount will be paid after 15 months, when the defect liability period gets over. “We are also in a hurry with the festival season around the corner,” the official said.
The city has a 2,000-km road network, of which 984 km are already concretised. This year, the BMC had set a target of concretising another 234 km. Chief Minister Eknath Shinde recently met BMC commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal and the officers of the road department to understand the measures undertaken for concretisation. After the Meeting, the BMC had invited tenders worth Rs 5800 crore to concretise 400 km of road network.
