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Civil work contractors of North DMC threaten to stop work, demand dues
New Delhi: Civil work contractors of the North Delhi Municipal Corporation have threatened not to complete projects and refused to start work on new plans to protest
New Delhi: Civil work contractors of the North Delhi Municipal Corporation have threatened not to complete projects and refused to start work on new plans to protest against non-payment of bills amounting to approximately Rs 500 crore pending for over last five years.
Representatives of the contractors’ union said they would adhere to the formula of “no money, no work” till their pending bills of various projects are cleared by the civic body. They said that due to financial challenges since lockdown, it has become difficult for them to continue work.
Among projects that the contractors they have not been paid for include construction of lanes in Nabi Karim, Padam Nagar, Azad Market and renovation of MCD flats at Nani Wala Bagh in Azadpur. Officials said if the contractors strike work it may also delay repair of streets in areas across the city which is crucial to prevent flooding during monsoon. As per IMD, monsoon has already arrived in the city.
The North corporation is the largest of the three civic bodies in Delhi. Its jurisdiction stretches from the Red Fort near Chandni Chowk in central Delhi to Narela-Bawana in north and northwest Delhi; and from Burari in North Delhi to Paschim Vihar in west Delhi. It has 24 assembly constituencies and two Lok Sabha constituencies.
There are 500 civil work contractors who work for the north municipality. At least 1,000 labourers work under these contractors.
“We are on the brink of starvation and not able to meet basic needs. Most of our bills after March 13, 2015 are yet to be cleared. Due to non-payment of our pending dues by the corporation, we are unable to look after our families. We have had written as well as talked to the civic authorities including the mayor, commissioner but nothing has happened. So, we have now decided to stop work and maintenance till our bills are cleared,” Gurmeet Singh Sethi, general secretary, Contractors’ Association of North MCD, said.
To press for their demands, last week civil work contractors had also staged a demonstration at the Civic Centre — North Corporation’s headquarter.
“Monsoon has already arrived and the maintenance work of broken streets and drains is still pending in areas such as Paharganj, Karol Bagh, Rohini among others. If contractors halt work then the situation may become worse during monsoon,” a north corporation official said who wished not to be named.
The contractors are not the only ones demanding their dues from the civic body. Teachers, doctors, nurses and paramedical staff employed by the North Corporation have also complained that they were not paid their salaries for last 3-4 months.
Sethi further said that contractors kept completing their work by borrowing money and material from suppliers in a hope that those pending dues would be cleared but it did not happen.
“The last payment MCD released was of Rs 20 crore in February 2020 but that was a meagre amount against the pending dues of around Rs 500 crore. It did not serve any purpose. Now the situation is such that neither the supplier is lending us materials nor we are able to borrow from the market to complete pending works,” Sethi said.
Jai Prakash, mayor North Corporation, admitted that bills are pending for long. He assured that the corporation was making efforts to clear bills.
“We are aware about the situation and are in touch with our contractors. In the times of Covid-19 crisis we are first trying to ensure that coronavirus warriors are paid regularly. We are also arranging funds to clear pending bills of contractors as soon as possible,” the mayor said.
