Potholed Performance : NMC terminates Jetpatcher contract but will clear dues!

Nagpur:  With NMC cementing its ways to deal with the corrupt contractors, the civic body has now bluntly nullified the contract of a private jetpatcher machine operator, as its services were no longer required. The decision to terminate the contract with M/s Anjani Logistics came in view of NMC converting many tar roads into cement. Under such circumstances the jetpatcher machine – used for asphalting of roads, repairing and maintenance, was not required much. However the relief for the contractor comes in the form of NMC’s order to clear its dues of Rs 15 crore.

Sources believed that M/s Anjani Logistics has committed serious irregularities in repairing of potholes at many places in the city. “The roads were left as it is without any work and the dues for the same was claimed. Just inspect any stretch undertaken by this contractor and the truth will come to the fore. The big potholes left by the contractor are life threating. Under such a set of things, dues should not be cleared at all,” claimed a source. The reports on the jetpatcher’s performance were not satisfactory. In spite of having the jetpatcher, NMC had failed to ensure pothole-free roads, which have in fact worsened. So, the panel rejected the department’s proposal and sent it back.

The NMC panel has rejected the proposal of NMC’s hotmix department to extend the contract of the said jetpatcher machine operator. The move has actually saved Rs2.03 crore for the NMC.

In 2011, NMC had retained M/s Anjani Logistics’s jetpatcher to repair potholes for three years for Rs15 crore. The term of the contract ended recently and the department had proposed a two-year extension for the firm.

The electric department’s project to replace all sodium vapour street lights with LED-based street lights by inviting tenders through energy saving scheme was approved by the committee. NMC will pay the private firm engaged for the work from the savings in energy consumption.

The proposal says NMC would start replacing LED lights at one go in all 10 zones by dividing the tenders into packages. The panel also gave its nod to garden department’s proposal of erecting flame resistant steel frame structures of Rs43 lakh at Gandhisagar lake as the venue is part of NMC’s Khau-Galli (foodstreet) project, said the standing committee chairman.