Nagpur News: The roadblock on carrying out road development works, repairs and maintenance by the undeclared boycott on the tenders by the NMC contractors got removed when a contractor agreed to do the works at the estimated cost of Rs 8 crore. The Standing Committee heaved a sigh of relief as the contractors had stopped tendering demanding hike rate card for road works.
The Nagpur image of shining and excellent road network was dented by the roads riddled with big potholes, roughed up patches of big magnitude and spurt in accidents following widespread destruction by the heavy to very heavy rains that battered the city in the four months of monsoon. The poor condition of roads forced some citizens to file a criminal petition in the Sessions Court against the NMC and the Commissioner himself was made the party to the petition. The Ruling Party in NMC, the BJP, got a hit over the bad roads thus forcing the Standing Committee to provide priority to road development and repairs. The Committee sanctioned works for main roads and internal roads with the grant of Rs 60 crore.
However, the contractors created roadblocks and boycotted the tendering process. The first two rounds of the process saw no contractors submitting tenders. But the Standing Committee, not bowing to pressure tactics of the contractors, decided to carry out the work on six-kilometer stretch of Central Avenue with the help of NIT’s Hot Mix Plant and also gave Rs 50 lakh as an advance. The Standing Committee Chairman Avinash Thakre put the adamant contractors on notice by warning them that the remaining works would also be carried out through the NIT. The warning did its job perfectly and one of the contractors participated in the online tender process and agreed to do the road works at an estimated cost of Rs 8 crore. The Standing Committee chief Thakre hoped that since the major roadblock has been removed the road development works and repairs would get the necessary momentum and the city’s roads would be again shining and in excellent condition.
