Under pressure by the nexus of contractors and a negative standing technical advisory committee (STAC) report, the BMC’s first ever flyover project has hit a roadblock.
The civic body has cancelled all ‘tender work’ on its 1.3-km flyover project along Ghatkopar-Mankhurd link road, spanning Shivaji Nagar junction and Baiganwadi junction. The reason given by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation for the cancellation is ‘non-finalisation of some technical points.’
However, Hindustan Times has learned that the STAC members had registered strong objections against the project, after the proposal was sent to them.
The STAC report slammed the civic body for pushing the project in spite of lacking in adequate technical knowledge to build a flyover. “The members have clearly mentioned that the flyover is not required, instead the original proposal of building two foot over-bridges at junctions should be promoted,” said a senior civic official on the condition of anonymity. The STAC report clearly states that as the BMC does not have technical expertise required to build flyovers, and there is an urgent need for an ‘Expert Advisory Group’, which will consult for such projects with the BMC officials. “In this project, the cost-benefit ratio was not even calculated,” said the report.
The BMC had not done any traffic survey before pushing forward the proposal. The project cost is estimated around Rs 90 crores. The report states that the BMC initially had approached the MMRDA for the no objection certificate (NOC) for a foot over-bridge, but did not have an NOC for the flyover. According to civic officials, contractors’ demands to modify tender conditions about joint venture clause and the experience criteria has also forced BMC to cancel the original tender work. “Contractors want more than two companies in a joint venture, while the present conditions permit only two. They even want the experience criterion to be removed as they will be hiring professionals who have enough experience in building a flyover,” said an official.
{{/usCountry}}The BMC had not done any traffic survey before pushing forward the proposal. The project cost is estimated around Rs 90 crores. The report states that the BMC initially had approached the MMRDA for the no objection certificate (NOC) for a foot over-bridge, but did not have an NOC for the flyover. According to civic officials, contractors’ demands to modify tender conditions about joint venture clause and the experience criteria has also forced BMC to cancel the original tender work. “Contractors want more than two companies in a joint venture, while the present conditions permit only two. They even want the experience criterion to be removed as they will be hiring professionals who have enough experience in building a flyover,” said an official.
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