Underpasses delayed again

Underpasses delayed again

November 13th, 2009
By Our Correspondent
Tags: Kadirenahalli and Puttenahalli underpasses


Bengaluru
Nov. 12: The Kadirenahalli and Puttenahalli underpasses will not be completed by the end of November as anticipated. Fresh deadlines have been set for the two projects, while the contractors executing them have been penalised for delaying them.
Transport minister and minister in charge of Bengaluru district R. Ashok on Wednesday set December 15 as the new date for completion of a portion of the Puttenahalli underpass leading to JP Nagar 24th main, and said the remaining portion leading to the Outer Ring Road will be completed by the end of January.
Mr Ashok, who was on an inspection of infrastructure projects in the city, said the contractor, Engineering Projects India (EPI) Ltd, had been asked to pay a penalty of Rs 50 lakh for delay in the work on the underpass and sub-contracting the work in violation of the terms of the tender.
“Once the company is through with this project, it will be blacklisted and not be considered for any future Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) projects,” the minister said.
The Madhava Hitech and Brahmaputra consortium, which is building the Kadirenahalli underpass, delayed due to technical and legal hurdles, has also been asked to cough up a penalty of Rs 75 lakh for not completing the project on time. “The work will now be taken up on a war footing,” Mr Ashok promised, explaining that both contracts had not been cancelled as inviting fresh tenders would have been time consuming.
In future, pre-qualification tenders will be invited to make sure that only suitable contractors could bid for projects, he said.
This will allow BBMP to assess the antecedents and skills of the companies concerned.
According to the transport minister, once the underpasses are ready, civic agency authorities will begin construction of a three-tier road network at the Kittur Rani Chennamma circle near the DG service station.