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Contractors at odds with LMC: Civic work in Lucknow could be hit ahead of DefExpo
The civic work in the state capital could be hit ahead of the Defence Expo 2020 (on February 5-8) due to the ongoing disagreement between contractors and municipal
The civic work in the state capital could be hit ahead of the Defence Expo 2020 (on February 5-8) due to the ongoing disagreement between contractors and municipal commissioner Indramani Tripathi. The dispute cropped up after Tripathi reportedly refused to pay the contractors without first verifying the quality of the construction work undertaken by them through institutes like the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kanpur and IIT Roorkee.
The municipal commissioner said that in the past two days he had been heckled twice by contractors regarding pending payments. However, he refused to release the payment because of alleged poor quality of the work.
Talking to HT, Tritpathi said, “I will not budge to these tactics. I have already lodged a police complaint against the contractor and will not allow anyone to take payments for the work that they have not done. The LMC is already facing a liability of Rs 250 crore but this can be managed only through better planning.”
Meanwhile, the road construction and repair work, which is in full swing for the upcoming DefExpo, could get hit due to this dispute.
Head of the LMC contractors’ association, Dhananjay Singh, said, “The contractors have invested a lot of money for the LMC. If they are not given back the money that they have spent, how will they take care of their families?”
“Contractors will protest against this arrogant attitude of the LMC officials in a democratic way. We will take up the matter with the minister. The deadlock must end or the development work in the city will be hit if we decide to halt the civic jobs,” he said.
OFFICIALS INSPECT WORK
Additional chief secretary Avanish Awasthi, ADG SN Sabat, IG SK Bhagat, divisional commissioner Mukesh Meshram, district magistrate Abhishek Prakash and municipal commissioner Indramani Tripathi inspected civic works in the city on Sunday.
Awasthi directed officials to ensure underground wiring for power in the DefExpo area in Vrindavan Colony. The LMC was also directed to paint the overhead tank there. Instructions were also issued to repair all the roads leading to the venue.
