Contractors reluctant to bid for Palike tenders

The wait for a decent civic infrastructure at ward level may get longer as contractors are not keen to bid for at least half of the tenders floated by the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike.

A H Basavaraju, chairperson of BBMP standing committee on ward-wise works told reporters here on Monday that tenders for 2,726 ward-wise works were floated recently under the single window system and there were no bidders for 1,359 projects.

“We floated tenders twice for 1,359 works, but no one came forward. If no one responds to our third call for tenders, we will assign the work to the Karnataka Rural Infrastructure Development Limited (KRIDL),” said Basavaraju.

He said the BBMP cannot abruptly hand over the works to the KRIDL because they are part of the Programme of Works (PoW). As per rule only urgent works can be handed over to the KRIDL, said Basavaraju.

Referring to his inspection of Palike division offices, Basavaraju said most of the offices do not display the signboards, causing inconvenience to citizens. He said he has issued direction to all the offices right from the assistant engineer to the joint commissioner to display boards showing their names, designation and the jobs assigned to them.

He said he has instructed them to put up the portraits of M Visvesvaraya, Mahatma Gandhi and B R Ambedkar.