Model road projects in limbo

The Corporation was supposed to float tenders by August 16

The civic body , it appears, is yet to float fresh tenders for resuming the model road project on D.B. Road and T.V. Samy Road. The Corporation had cancelled the work midway and cancelled contract after the contractor reportedly sought cancellation of the project as the fund allocated was insufficient.

The Corporation was supposed to float tenders by August 16.

The contractor had wanted to execute the model road project by cutting down trees on D.B. Road but had to give up the demand after non-government organisations associated with the project and civil society activists objected to the tree cutting demand saying trees were central to the model roads project.

To execute the work with the trees around, the contractor had said the fund allotted was insufficient and so the Corporation had to cancel the contract, Corporation sources said.

The cancellation of the contract, it appears, had also slighted the architects who were associated with designing the roads. Sources close to the architects and familiar with the development said that the architects were unhappy that the blame for the cancellation of the contract and the resultant delay in execution had fell on their door steps.

The sources said that at the time of the finalisation of the design, the Corporation was supposed to work only above the road surface but as it began the work, it wanted to align the underground utility lines like power and telephone cables.

The underground work would have meant a different design as the architects would have to involve mechanical, electrical and plumbing (MEP) design providers. As the architects were about to engage MEP design providers, they had learnt that the Corporation had cancelled the contract.

The civic body’s move had slighted them as the Corporation had projected a picture that the architects had presented a plan for underground work. But the reality, the sources said, was that the Corporation began underground work after finalising the design for only the surface work.

The sources also said that they had learnt that the Corporation had acted under political pressure to cancel the contract. Civic body officials were unavailable for comment.