CONSTRUCTION WORK NOT STARTED EVEN AFTER TWO YEARS OF TENDER

CONSTRUCTION WORK NOT STARTED EVEN AFTER TWO YEARS OF TENDER

19-SEP-ENG 16

RAJIV NAYAN AGRAWAL

ARA-----------------------------Works worth more than ₹5 crore approved in the Shahpur Nagar Panchayat in 2023 have yet to be started despite tenders being issued. People create a ruckus at the municipal office every day due to the lack of work. Locals allege that when they complain to officials, they say the tender has been issued and work will begin soon. For years, they have only received assurances. Two years and one month after the tender was approved, construction work has not yet begun in many wards of Shahpur Nagar Panchayat.

Case 1: A tender for the construction of an RCC drain on both sides of the REO Road in Ward No. 7 of Shahpur Nagar Panchayat has been accepted by a contractor. Even two years after the tender was issued, the contractor has not started work.

Case 2: In Ward 7 of Shahpur Nagar Panchayat, the tender value for the construction of an RCC drain on both sides of the REO Road is ₹1,976,201 lakh. The contractor has not yet started work.

Case 3: The tender value for the construction of an earth-filling, brick-flooring, PCC, and AVM drain from the main road to Chandrashekh Pandey's house via Mohan Pandey and Shivji Yadav's houses is ₹1,528,943 lakh. Tender number NIT04/2023-24 GR-14. Even two years after the tender was awarded, the contractor has not started work.

Case 4: Tender value for PCC and drain construction from Bablu Sharma's house to Laxman Mahato's house in Ward 8 of Shahpur Nagar Panchayat: ₹2262799 lakh. The contractor has accepted the tender for the road and drain. Two years and one month after the tender was awarded, work has not yet begun. Its NIT is numbered 04/2023-24 GR-15. This has increased the problems of the local people. Overall, work worth more than ₹5 crore is pending in the city.

Meanwhile, the EO was not available in the office. The concerned municipal employee stated that a list of such contractors and firms is not available. Sources indicate that even after the tender was awarded, the agreement process has not yet been completed. Will the tenders of contractors who have not started the work be cancelled and action be taken to declare such contractors and firms as defaulters?

It should be noted that it is impossible to meet the city's EO in his office or talk to him on the phone, and when JE Jayanandan Chaudhary is called, he does not consider it appropriate to pick up the phone. The local people have started demanding strict action against the contractor. People say that when the cleaning NGO has been blacklisted, then why is leniency being shown towards these contractors who have taken the tender but have not done the work? The working style of the Nagar Panchayat is increasing the anger among the people.