With civic elections around the corner, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has decided to take up road work in the coming months and has issued tenders worth Rs 1,200 crore for repair and reconstruction of 31 roads. There had been a delay in road works because of the fund crunch brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Bids received from contractors are under scrutiny and will soon be forwarded to the standing committee. Municipal Commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal has done away with a controversial condition of 60:40 contract basis payments in the current tenders. The condition used to lead to high contract prices. Last year, the cost-cutting due to Covid-19, the Roads Department had been at the receiving end. It was asked by the Accounts Department to cut down on project costs while elected representatives wanted to get major work done ahead of the civic elections in 2022. In what comes as a relief for citizens and elected representatives, civic sources said that stage one tenders (roads that need urgent repairs and reconstruction) and also stage two (where repairs are not urgent but needed in due course of time) will be taken up depending on funds available.
