The plans of the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) infrastructure projects appear to have been stuck in a limbo as contractors have not come forward to obtain about half of the contracts floated by the civic body.
Speaking at a press conference on Monday, Chairperson of the BBMP’s standing committee A.H. Basavaraju said no contractor had showed interest in 1,359 works out of the 2,726 tenders floated by the civic body. He said that the recent protests by the contractors’ who were demanding early release of pending dues following the suicide of their colleague, had dented the image of the civic body. Mr. Basavaraju said that if none of the contractors expressed interest after the third call for tenders, BBMP would hand over the work to the Karnataka Rural Infrastructure Development Limited (KRIDL). He informed that the civic body had suspended the health inspector of south zone and had sent an official with the town planning department back to the Public Works Department. Five engineers had been issued show cause notices for negligence of duty, he added.“This has been done to send out a strong message to other officials. Those who neglect their duty will face strict action,” he said.
He also said that all the offices of the civic body have been instructed to display names of the officials, designation and their job profile so that citizens could avail the services needed easily. BBMP has also written to Bangalore Electricity Supply Company, Bangalore Development Authority, Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board and the police to do the same.
