Mumbai: Contractor gets BMC notice for delay in work on 16 oxygen plants

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Tuesday said that it has issued a notice to the contractor, warning of penalty for allegedly delaying the work of setting up oxygen plants in the city, amid the anticipation of the third Covid-19 wave

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Tuesday said that it has issued a notice to the contractor, warning of penalty for allegedly delaying the work of setting up oxygen plants in the city, amid the anticipation of the third Covid-19 wave.

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The BMC has warned of a penalty to the contractor, in case of failing to complete work on time. The civic body has planned to set up 16 oxygen plants at nine locations in the city at the cost of around ₹90 crore that will generate an estimated 43 metric tons of oxygen daily, on the site.

The nine locations where 16 plants will be set up includes nine civic-run hospitals wherein two plants at BYL Nair Hospital, two at Cooper Hospital, one at Bhabha Hospital, one at VN Desai Hospital, two at Shatabdi Hospital in Kandivli, three at KEM Hospital, two plants at GTB Hospital, two plants at LTMG Hospital and one at Kasturba Hospital. These plants will work on the pressure swing adsorption (PSA) technology.

For this, the BMC had appointed Highway Construction Company last month and handed over to them the above sites between June 16 and June 25, 2021, giving them a month to complete the work. However, civic body officials said they have issued a notice as the contractor has not completed the work on time.

P Velrasu, additional municipal commissioner of the BMC confirmed issuing a notice to the contractor. In the notice, the BMC has said, “Considering the work progress sites, the period of completion .i.e. 30 days was already expired. You are hereby instructed to complete the work immediately without fail, otherwise, a penalty will be levied to you, as per terms and conditions of the tender.”

Romin Chedda from Highway Construction Company said, “It is not a notice but I have received a letter from the BMC. The majority of work at all the sites is completed and I will hand over the plants soon in the coming days to the BMC.”

Meanwhile, the BMC is also in the process of setting up its own oxygen bottling plant to fill jumbo cylinders in the city at Mahul at the cost of ₹21 crore. This plant will fill around 1,500 oxygen cylinders with a capacity of 7.1 cubic meters daily.