Despite reservations raised by the Opposition party regarding the quality of the work, two out of the six contractors indicted in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s road repair work scam have be
Despite reservations raised by the Opposition party regarding the quality of the work, two out of the six contractors indicted in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s road repair work scam have been appointed for construction of four new bridges in the city, costing a total of Rs 227 crores. These bridges include the reconstruction of the historic Hancock bridge, a bridge at Yari Road, one on the Mithi River and one at the Vikhroli Railway station.
Despite severe criticism from Leader of the Opposition Pravin Chedda, who staged a walkout in protest, along with corporators from the opposition, the civic body’s standing committee passed the proposals on Wednesday with support from the BJP-Shiv Sena alliance. The contract has been awarded to J Kumar Infrastructure and RPS Infrastructure, both suspected of corruption in the road repair work scam.
An official from the bridges department said, “These two contractors are the only ones with expertise in this field, so we have given them the contracts. Besides, they have not been unregistered yet, as per the terms of their contract. If we follow the due procedure, ‘blacklisting’ them will take some time. In the mean time they are like any other contractor on the civic body’s list.”
Meanwhile, BMC commissioner Ajoy Mehta said, “There is no provision by which we can ban contractors who have only been accused of irregularities. Due process will be followed and they will be blacklisted after charges against them are proven.”
