No tender, no money: Karnataka govt rejects BBMP’s ‘emergency’ logic to bypass bids

In a setback to the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), the state government has turned down its request to undertake road and drain projects worth Rs 1,171 crore without calling tenders.

The Urban Development Department found that most of the projects were not of an emergency nature as claimed by the civic body.

The BBMP and the state government had come under widespread criticism for the city’s bad roads during the rains in October and November last year. The civic body had cited the flood damage to bypass the tender process under Section 4(A) and (G) of the Karnataka Transparency in Public Procurements Act, which deals with “periods of natural calamity or emergency declared by the government”.

Had the government approved the BBMP’s proposal, the civic body would have had the power to pick contractors of its choosing without being accountable. Citizen groups suggested the BBMP would end up carrying out the project at inflated costs.

The matter was reported by this newspaper on December 11, 2021.

Also read: BBMP tenders must be floated

In a letter written earlier in February, Rakesh Singh, Additional Chief Secretary, UDD, said most of the works proposed by the BBMP were related to basic maintenance and preventive measures. “These works do not come under state flood relief rules,” he stated.

Singh has asked the BBMP to send a separate proposal with works that need to be taken up urgently.

The department also suggested that the remaining works be either taken up under the BBMP’s own grants or included in the action plan of the Amrut Nagarothana Scheme, which the government approved recently.

Out of Rs 1,171 crore, Rs 100 crore was sought by the BBMP’s road infrastructure division to asphalt 580 km of arterial and sub-arterial roads. Rs 411 crore was asked for by the stormwater division while the solid waste management wanted Rs 50 crore. Rs 600 crore was earmarked for developing ward roads while the remaining Rs 10 crore was for developing control rooms.