The Mysuru City Corporation (MCC) Civil Contractors’ Association has resolved to stop the civic body’s works in protest against the failure of the authorities to clear their long-pending dues.
The cash-strapped MCC had accumulated dues for over three years, amounting to ₹120 crore. The association’s representatives said they had decided to suspend all the civil works of the MCC after their repeated meetings and appeals to the authorities to clear the dues had not yielded any result.
Association president Chandrashekaraiah said that dues in several cases were pending since 2017. Most of the contractors had taken loans from banks and private financiers to carry out the works while many others had pending dues to clear for the construction material they had taken to complete the works.
The contractors had come under immense pressure to clear their dues and it has become extremely difficult for them to lead their lives, lamented Mr. Chandrashekaraiah in an appeal submitted to Mayor Tasneem.
Though they had met the MCC Commissioner on several occasions, the latter only offered assurances, but not clear the dues. “Hence, we have suspended all works of the MCC from October 3,” he added before urging the Mayor to take steps to expeditiously clear their pending dues and pave the way for resumption of civil works of the MCC.
General works amounting to a total of ₹86.42 crore are pending from May 2017 including ₹20.54 crore from 2017-19, ₹45.51 crore from 2018-19 and ₹19.36 crore from 2019-20. Similarly, ₹31.68 crore is pending towards underground drainage (UGD) works since October 2016 including ₹19.5 crore due from the works executed in 2018-19 alone.
