Will change, says BMP

Will change, says BMP
New Indian Express

BANGALORE: The findings of the expert committee set up by the High Court have caught the Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BMP) on the wrong foot. But the civic body says it cannot undo the misdeeds of the past and can only take due care in the future.

The expert committee had submitted to the court that BMP contractors dictate terms by forming a cartel and BMP engineers have no knowledge of the codes of Indian Road Congress (IRC).

Under ward works, the civic body has spent Rs 597.96 crore on road works since 2001-02. Apart from that there were works taken up under the infrastructure bond scheme, with special grants and with international funding. But the 4,000 km of city roads are not getting any better.

BMP commissioner K Jothiramalingam told this paper that the civic body had taken care to eliminate cartelling of contractors. “We normally reject single bids. And whenever there had been a reason to believe that cartelling existed, the BMP has retendered works,” he said.

“What has happened in the past can not be undone. But we will introduce newer methods and technology for better works,” Jothiramalingam added.

BMP engineer-in-chief P K Sreehari said that maintenance of proper gradation and correct temperature of the asphalt mix would ensure the desired quality of works. “We will stipulate that all road contractors should have a hot mix plant and our engineers will visit the facility to ensure correct quality,” he said.

On the engineers not having IRC code books, an engineer said it was useful during the design stage to evolve specifications of works. “Once the specifications so developed are agreed to by the contractors, we only need to ensure compliance with contract terms,” he added.

However, the expert committee has instilled a sense of fear among the contractors and many of them have halted works. The BMP recently received no response to 30 recent tenders.

President of BMP Contractors Association R J Srinivas told this paper that the civic body does not pay adequately.

“We are expected to maintain the roads for three years and the BMP does not pay anything for it. If we quote the cost of maintenance, the bid is rejected and they go for retendering. Further, BMP estimates are not realistic. Most estimates are done without a site visit,” he said.