Thane Municipal Corporation blacklists contractor for shoddy road work

Thane: The Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) blacklisted a contractor for three years for shoddy work on the road – Ashtavinayak Chowk in Kopri – as well as its repair and maintenance

Thane: The Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) blacklisted a contractor for three years for shoddy work on the road – Ashtavinayak Chowk in Kopri – as well as its repair and maintenance. The contractor has also been barred from participating in any other tender process of TMC. Along with this, show-cause notices have also been issued to the officers supervising the work.

“Chief minister Eknath Shinde has asked the municipal corporation to take necessary steps to make the change of Thane campaign a success. He tracks action reports regarding pothole-free roads, cleaning campaigns, and beautification works. He has provided total assistance of ₹605 crores. Therefore, through this action, the municipal administration has warned that no laxity will be tolerated in the road work,” said Bangar. (HT PHOTO)

TMC has blacklisted A&C Construction and served show cause notice to the junior engineer and executive of the concerned ward. The civic body, which has taken up the pothole-free Thane campaign, has started monitoring the road works across the city.

TMC commissioner Abhijit Bangar is making surprise visits to inspect the works across Thane. “Taking into consideration the opinion of experts regarding the technical quality of road works, action was taken accordingly,” said Bangar.

The municipal commissioner has already announced that a fine of ₹1 lakh rupees will be levied for each pothole (per square metre).

The road work has been going on for the last few months at Ashtavinayak Chowk at Kopri, Thane (East), said Bangar. The commissioner asked the executive engineer in charge of the concerned work to inspect it. It was found that the contractor has submitted a report saying repair work has been done despite not doing it.

“I paid a surprise visit to the road work at Ashtavinayak Chowk. During this visit, locals also pointed out that the road work was not up to standard. Residents met me at the spot and complained about the shoddy work and said they had complained about it several times, but no one paid attention,” added Bangar.

Taking cognizance of this, the contractor was ordered to explain the same. However, he made an unsatisfactory explanation.

“In reply to this notice, he admitted that the original work and its repairs were defective. Therefore, overall, the municipal administration concluded that the intention of the contractor in doing this work was not sincere. If the citizens had not complained, the road would not have been repaired,” said Bangar.

Against this backdrop, Bangar ordered the blacklisting of the contractor for three years, as well as barring him from participating in other tender processes of the TMC. A show-cause notice was also issued to the officers responsible for the supervision of the work concerned.

“Chief minister Eknath Shinde has asked the municipal corporation to take necessary steps to make the change of Thane campaign a success. He tracks action reports regarding pothole-free roads, cleaning campaigns, and beautification works. He has provided total assistance of ₹605 crores. Therefore, through this action, the municipal administration has warned that no laxity will be tolerated in the road work,” said Bangar.