E-Paper
PMC to conduct hearing of blacklisted contractors on Oct 31
The contractors were not given official works for various acts of omission and commission related to neglect in carrying out road repairs and filling potholes during the monsoon period
The Bombay High Court has directed the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) to conduct hearing of the 10 contractors blacklisted by the municipal commissioner among the first list of 13. The contractors were not given official works for various acts of omission and commission related to neglect in carrying out road repairs and filling potholes during the monsoon period.
After the civic administration removed three of the contractors from the original blacklist, the remaining 10 approached the hight court seeking relief. The court in its order stated that prior notice must be issued to contractors and their hearing must be taken. Hence, PMC will conduct the hearing on October 31.
VG Kulkarni, head, PMC road department, said that the hearing has been scheduled as per the court direction. The road department faced severe public criticism over bad roads and waterlogging during the monsoon season.
Later, civic chief Vikram Kumar appointed a three-member committee led by city engineer Prashant Waghmare to examine the cause for bad roads and ordered blacklisting 13 contractors based on the findings by Kumar. It was found that three contractors had not participated in road works and hence they were removed from the list.
The civic legal department stated that blacklisted contractors will be given a chance to file their say during the hearing before PMC takes a final decision. The court pointed out that PMC had not issued prior notice to contractors before taking action against them.
Besides contractors, PMC had taken penal action against 24 of its engineers for not showing necessary vigilance during road works.
