More powers will pave way for faster works

More powers will pave way for faster works

Basavaraj Itnaal



During the review of the civic works undertaken by the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagar Palike (BBMP) last week, the chief minister issued an order to enhance the financial powers of the municipal commissioner. So far, the commissioner had to seek the approval of the council (in its absence that of the administrator) for any work, the cost of which is higher than Rs2 crore. The new government order has raised this limit to Rs3 crore. Likewise, the financial power of the standing committees has been enhanced to Rs4 crore. All works with an estimated cost of Rs5 crore must get government nod. Palike special commissioner MS Shreekar spoke to Basavaraj Itnaal on how it could affect the civic works.

What is the procedure to be followed for reviewing works and how would enhancement of the commissioner's powers affect it?
It is a lengthy process. The engineering department first prepares a detailed project report (DPR) and it has to be given for administrative approval by the commissioner. Once the DPR is approved, the work is forwarded to the tender. Some times there is no response to invitation of tender and some times the bids may not be acceptable. Then we have to either re-tender or negotiate with the contractors to make them offer an acceptable bid. If the bid is within the commissioner's financial powers, the work is awarded to the eligible contractor. Or else, the file is sent to the standing committee. If the bid is such that approving it is beyond the powers of standing committee, it would bring it before the council for its approval. After the council approves it, the decision has to be approved by the government as well, provided that it is beyond Rs5 crore. Greater Bangalore has huge demand as far as development is concerned. The increase in the commissioner's powers is useful in that context. It must be kept in mind that all technical groundwork is done by BBMP before inviting tenders and further to that it is a question of delegation of powers. While major works should go to the standing committee, the council and the government, it will be good if day to day work can be dealt with by the commissioner himself.

Will this reduce approval time for projects?
The entire process, beginning right from the DPR stage to the government approval, takes more than a year. In fact, it is not as if the government has to approve all the the decisions of the BBMP. The government can as well direct BBMP to re-negotiate with the contractor. But this requires more time. This scheme of things is ok for major projects that need close scrutiny.

Will this then speed up project works?
Not the ongoing works. It certainly paves way for faster implementation of work in the future.

Doesn't the process appear too lengthy? What if the contractor claims escalation of prices immediately after issue of work order?
The Karnataka Transparency in Public Procurements Act requires that there be checks and balances at every stage of decision making. And the procedure is in keeping with it.