Chennai Corporation refuses to dance to tune of bridge contractor

CHENNAI: The Chennai Corporation has put its foot down and recalled tenders for three bridges in North Chennai after the contractor demanded almost a 70 per cent hike in payments quoted in the tender. 
Negotiations with the contractor for these bridges proposed in Ammullavoyal, Vadaperumbakkam and Burma Nagar began more than five months ago before they finally collapsed last week. 

“The contractor refused to budge and kept insisting on an unjustified hike in tender value so we refused to comply,” said a senior official in the bridges department. The tender value for these bridges is around Rs 11.5 crore and it is learned that the contractor demanded twice the tender value for one of these bridges. “The payments are usually increased for bridge projects taking into consideration the time it takes to complete the projects and the inflation of building materials. But the tender value is not increased more than 25 per cent,” said a bridges official. 

The project in Manali Zone were proposed after the Chennai floods of 2015 destroyed the existing bridges. However, following the bolstering of the Corporation’s Bridges Department’s purse in the previous budget, tenders were issued in September. 

The Corporation had expected to finish the project by April 2019. But with the project coming back to square one, around 1.5 lakh residents might have to brave this year’s monsoon too without these new bridges. 

BRIDGE CONNECT
● Amullaivoyal Bridge will connect 100 feet road and Andar Kuppam Red hills road
● Vadaperumbakkam Bridge will connect Gandhi Main Road Madharvaram-Red Hills Road
● Burma Colony Bridge will connect Burma Main Road and Manali Expressway