The BMC will try to hire contractors to clean 421 km of minor drains before the next monsoon. The previous season saw no response to the tenders, and work had to be done at the ward level
The BMC will try to hire contractors to clean 421 km of minor drains before the next monsoon. The previous season saw no response to the tenders, and work had to be done at the ward level.
A clean-up drive in progress
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It has also issued tenders to appoint contractors to de-silt 248 km of major drains and 20.25 km of Mithi river at R129 crore. While the expenditure for major nullahs is pegged at Rs 60 crore, BMC will spend R41 crore to clean minor nullahs and R28 crore to clean the Mithi.
In 2015, BMC had done an inquiry into nullah de-silting work that revealed malpractices by contractors. The inquiry report had revealed a Rs 35-crore loss to the BMC and indicted several civic officials and contractors. Following this, civic officials have been struggling to appoint contractors for this work.
After getting no response from contractors in the past two years, BMC used ward-level machinery for the de-silting. The previous pre-monsoon work tender was floated thrice, but no one had bid. Also, this delayed the pre-monsoon preparations. But now, with contractors coming forward for major nullahs and the Mithi river, civic officials are hopeful of a better response.
A total of 48 tenders have been issued, as 698 km of drains have to be cleaned. Seven contractors will be appointed in the island city, 14 in the eastern suburbs and 27 in the western suburbs.
Rs 60 cr
Estimated cost of cleaning major nullahs
Rs 28 cr
Estimated cost of cleaning the Mithi river
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