Contractors threaten to halt BMP works

Contractors threaten to halt BMP works
New Indian Express

BANGALORE: Show us the money or we’ll stop working, contractors told the Bangalore Mahanagara Palike on Tuesday.

Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy had assured the Assembly last month that the city would have good roads by June.

It now looks like that will remain just a promise. With contractors threatening to halt works, the civic body will be hit hard, what with the monsoon round the corner.

Apparently the contractors are cross with the BMP for delays in payment of bills when they have to contend with frequent escalation in prices of construction material.

While in last two months, the cost of a load of ready mix concrete (RMC) has gone up from Rs 1,900 to Rs 2,500, a truck load of sand now costs Rs 8,000 as against Rs 6,000. Even cement prices have gone up by Rs 40 a bag.

President of BMP Contractors Association R J Srinivas said the civic body has not paid bills pending since November.

About a hundred contractors barged into the chambers of deputy mayor M Laxminarayana and demanded his intervention, as mayor Mumtaz Begum was not available even on her cell phone.

Last month, the civic body had sanctioned 30 per cent of the budget allocation for ward works, anticipating a government okay, and this money was to be used for spill over works and pending payments.

But Laxminarayana told this website’s newspaper that he was still thinking about it.

He said BMP projects would not be affected by the cost escalation. A contractor said all major works were given as turnkey contracts and the contractors would absorb the losses.

On the other hand, zonal ward works, including the 110 packages that were tendered for bids last year, have not even begun.

But such incidents fail to teach any lessons to our city fathers. Even when turnkey contracts can bear escalations, the BMP prefers to give more works to small time contractors in ward works and that too under suspicious discretionary grants. This year’s allocation of Rs 370 crore is a record.

BJP leader in BMP A H Basavaraju condemned the mayor’s stand. ‘‘On the one hand Begum said she would use 30 per cent of work allocation from administrative expenses for spill overs. And now she has conveniently kept herself out of the mess. It is all too clear how her descretionary grants of Rs 25 crore will be spent,’’ he said.