The Hindu : Front Page : BRTS runs into rough weather

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Thursday, Sep 18, 2008
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BRTS runs into rough weather

G.V.R. Subba Rao

VIJAYAWADA: The Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS), one of the prestigious projects taken up by the Vijayawada Municipal Corporation (VMC) under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM), seems to be running into rough weather because of the delay in the services being rendered by the project management consultant.

Dissatisfied with the performance of Consulting Engineering Services (CES) India Private Limited, a leading Delhi-based consultant, the VMC has served notice on the firm, seeking to know why it should not blacklist it for not meeting the terms and conditions of the agreement.

The CES, as per the agreement, will not execute the project on its own but help the VMC in selecting an agency to undertake the task. As the project monitoring group, the CES is also supposed to monitor and check the quality of BRTS works.

The VMC had agreed to pay Rs. 1.63 crores as consultancy fee to the CES for devising the project in Engineering Procurement and Construction (EPC) mode. This is the first instance in the State of an infrastructure project, other than an irrigation project, being taken up under the EPC mode and following the standards laid down by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI). So far, Rs. 12.95 lakh has been paid.

Tardy progress

But the tardy progress has upset the VMC so much that it dashed off a letter to the State Government detailing the reasons for seeking to discontinue with the services of the CES. It also outlined the need for hiring another consultant to complete the project as per the original schedule.

Municipal Commissioner P. S. Pradyumna, when contacted, said the consultant was ‘creating trouble’. The agency was neither ‘giving any notes’ nor adhering to the terms and conditions. The CES was supposed to elucidate so many important factors, such as the number of bridges, flyovers, traffic junctions and bus stops required and also make a traffic study for the project. It had not done anything until now. “The CES has failed to say whether a bridge or a flyover is required near Madhura Nagar,” Mr. Pradyumna said.

The road here is too narrow with many bottlenecks on the stretch posing a problem. While a canal flows on one side of the road, a railway track passes on the other side. A temple is also situated on the road. The officials have to evacuate some houses if a flyover has to be constructed. Similar problems persist for constructing a four-lane bridge. The VMC’s first priority is to complete G.S. Raju-Madhura Nagar road stretch of the BRTS by Oct. 31.

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