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Mechanical sweeping in Mohali likely to resume by April
If approved by the chief engineer of department of local government, the contract of the mechanical sweeping will be allotted to one of the two companies which will supply four foreign manufactured mechanical sweeping machines to the state government at the cost of around ₹10 crore
Mechanical sweeping will resume on Mohali roads in the coming year as the municipal corporation recently sent the proposal, for allotment of contract to one of the two bidders, for final approval to the department of local government, Punjab.
If approved by the chief engineer of the department, the contract of mechanical sweeping will be allotted to one of the two companies, which will supply four foreign-manufactured mechanical sweeping machines to the state government at a cost of around ₹10 crore, which will be funded by the Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA).
MC is expected to get the machines by April-end.
“The company which will sell us the high-tech machines will also get a five-year contract for sweeping the roads and for maintenance of the machines. These machines will sweep all A and B category roads. We will start the mechanical sweeping process in Mohali at the earliest and maintain the best cleanliness standards in the city,” Mohali MLA Kulwant Singh said.
Earlier, MC failed to draw any bidders despite opening the tenders twice.
The previous contract had expired on June 14, 2021, following which roads are being cleaned manually, amid severe shortage of staff.
In the third attempt, MC managed to get bids from two companies. These companies include Global Waste Management Cell and Propower Sweeping Company.
According to sources, MC had opened the ₹40.81-crore tender for the purchase of machines besides handling the sweeping operations and maintenance of the machines for five years, and one of the two bidders made a bid of ₹41.54 crore, while the other company made a hefty bid seeking over ₹55 crore.
Sources added that the company which made the closest bid was also now seeking more money than the submitted bid.
“After making a failed bid to negotiate the contract cost with the bidders, we have sent the file to the chief engineer for final approval. Once approved, the machines will be imported to India in four months. We are giving a cleaning contract at around ₹900 per km, which is less than the cost in Chandigarh,” a senior officer said.
MC commissioner Navjot Kaur said, “We are positive that we will start mechanical sweeping soon. The tender has been successful the third time.”
Mohali mayor Amarjeet Singh Sidhu criticised the state government for causing delay in resuming the project. “With less workforce available in Mohali, it is not possible to clean the city as per the required standards. We have written multiple letters to the government to expedite the process, but to no avail,” Sidhu claimed.
