Citing the pandemic, civic body allots Rs 11.85 crore reconstruction work of a dilapidated bridge to a contractor who was building another bridge on Kurla-Kalina road without inviting any tenders; as BJP raises a stink, local corporator cites larger public good
Marwa bridge has been shut since June this year. Pic/Anurag Ahire
Citing urgency due to the pandemic, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has assigned repair work of the Marwa bridge—a link between Saki Vihar Road and SevenHills hospital—to a contractor without a tender. The contractor is already working on a bridge in Kalina and the Marwa one has been added to the contract. The original cost of the contract was Rs 14.23 crore but the additional work has increased the amount by Rs 11.85 crore. While the administration states that it is important to repair the bridge, as commuters will be able to reach SevenHills faster, the work will take at least two years to be completed.
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Marwa bridge, near Picnick Hotel on Saki Vihar Road, has been shut since June this year, after it was declared dilapidated by the Bridges Department. One wall on the southern side of the bridge collapsed, following which the route was closed. The bridge is a link between the local area and Saki Vihar Road and commuters also use it to reach SevenHills hospital, which has been converted into a Covid Care Centre. However, the hospital also has access from the Andheri-Ghatkopar road. Ashok Matekar, husband of local corporator Ashwini Matekar, said, “The bridge is old and we have been trying to get it repaired for a long time. Finally, the work has been allotted and it will start in January.”
One wall on the southern side of the bridge had collapsed, after which the route was shut for traffic. Pic/Anurag Ahire
In a proposal to the standing committee, the civic administration mentioned that the bridge was in a dilapidated condition and cracks had appeared on the slab. It further said that in the absence of the bridge, people have to take a four to five-kilometre-long detour to reach the hospital and so the additional work of its repair had been assigned to contractor M/s A R Construction under the commissioner’s authority.
As per the original tender, the BMC had allotted reconstruction work of a bridge on the Kurla-Kalina road to M/s A R construction in October 2018. The cost of the project was Rs 14.23 crore and work was supposed to be completed in 19 months (excluding monsoon). However, the deadline was first extended till May 31, 2021 due to technical difficulties and then till February 15, 2022. Now as the BMC has allotted another bridge construction work to the contractor, the deadline for both works has been extended to December 2023.
Prabhakar Shinde, group leader of the BJP said, “Who declared the bridge unsafe? If the bridge was shut in June, then why wasn’t a tender invited and work allotted as per the procedure? How does the BMC know that a different contractor would not have done it at a lesser cost? Construction work will take another two years, then why has the BMC cited reasons like the bridge is a link to the hospital and urgency due to the pandemic?” The proposal will be tabled in the standing committee on Wednesday.
When mid-day contacted P Velarasu, additional commissioner (Project), he said, “The bridge is in a dilapidated condition and the retaining wall has collapsed. It connects the eastern and western suburbs at Andheri and Kurla and is currently closed for traffic. It will take another two to three months to appoint a new contractor, hence work is proposed to be allotted to an existing contractor, so that it can
start early.”
Rs 14.23 crore
0riginal cost of the contract
Rs 11.85 cr
Cost of bridge repair work
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