A contractor bidding for Coimbatore Corporation works has alleged irregularities in tender opening process.
The contractor, A. Dravidamani, alleged that the Corporation engineer in-charge in East Zone, R. Bhuvaneswari, did not follow norms while opening the bids on April 13. He said he had placed bids to undertake a few works in Ward 61 and 67 in East Zone. After opening the bids, the engineer did not disclose who the lowest bidder was. She not only refused to give proper reasons for not doing so but kept delaying the announcement of the successful bidder.
After much persuasion, on April 17, she took the issue to the notice of the Assistant Commissioner, East Zone, but there to there was no solution in sight, he added. Later that evening, she disclosed that another contractor, who had quoted 10 paise less than he did, had won the bid.
Mr. Dravidamani said he questioned the decision saying it was against rules as the amount the successful contractor had quoted was outside the cut off rate.
Ms. Bhuvaneswari said that she had followed the norms in opening the tender. In fact, the contractor in question was very much present while she opened the bids. After four or five days, he arrived at her office asking for the documents, to which she said she could not do so.
However, she said once the process was complete, she would share the details. She had also taken the issue to the notice of senior officials in the main office, the engineer added.
