Mono Rail project hits a rough patch

Mono Rail project hits a rough patch
By P M Raghunandan, DH News Service, Bangalore:
The proposed Mono Rail project for Bangalore has hit a hurdle, just when it was set to chug off. The State Government has dumped all three consortiums who had qualified for being consultants to the proposed project.

“Instead, it is considering throwing the project open under the Swiss Challenge system (wherein the first bidder will be awarded the contract),” a top official in the urban development department told Deccan Herald. This, in other words, means that the implementation of the much-awaited project, which is planned to supplement Namma Metro, will be delayed further, officials added.
Under the Swiss Challenge system, the first bidder will be awarded the contract. But there will be a provision for challenging the technical specifications of the first bidder by a second bidder and the government will have the option to chose the best firm for the project. The Swiss Challenge system was adopted recently by the government in its new infrastructure policy.
Interestingly, Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy, who holds the urban development portfolio, was keen to implement the mono rail project at the earliest. Hence, he had entrusted the implementation of the proposed project to Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation, a special purpose vehicle for the ongoing metro rail.
Tenders called
Accordingly, BMRC had called tenders to appoint Mono Rail consultants. It had also shortlisted three consortiums -- SomiLL Limited and Others, Mumbai, RITES Limited (with Tonichi Engineering consultants, Japan and iDeck, Bangalore) and Semaly, France (with TOSTEMS, Japan and BCEOM, Faridabad) -- after nearly four months of lengthy processing. It had forwarded the list to the urban development department in July 2007. “By the time the BMRC could submit the list of qualified consortiums, the government had changed its mind. Now, it is mulling over Swiss Challenge system for the project,” official sources said.
They added, “had the government gone ahead with the original plan and chosen one of the consortiums, the detailed project report (DPR) would have been ready by now. The project would have taken off by the end of this year.”
Official sources smell something fishy in the government’s sudden change of tack and its intention to adopt the Swiss Challenge. “Unlike the conventional way of tendering, the government will have its choice in awarding the project contract under Swiss Challenge. It can award the contact in favour of a particular firm,” officials pointed out.
Meanwhile, BMRC has told the government that it will not be able to implement the proposed mono rail project. It has advised a separate special purpose vehicle (SPV) for the purpose.

Proposed routes
Corridor I - From Kanakapura road to Mysore road along Outer Ring Road with a T connection from Kathriguppa to National College, Basavanagudi.
Corridor II - From Bannerghatta National Park to Adugodi along Bannerghatta road.
Corridor III - From Tumkur road to Bellary road
Corridor IV - Mysore road to Tumkur road along Outer Ring Road with a T connection from Toll Gate to Magadi road.