Mula river in Sangamwadi. (File)

After a delay in the implementation of Rs 990-crore project to abate pollution in Mula-Mutha river under the National River Conservation Plan (NRCP), the Centre has recently directed the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) to approve at least one of the four tenders it had proposed to be cancelled due to higher rate quoted by private agencies.

The Union government had approved the project in 2016. The Japan Industrial Cooperation Agency (JICA), which had extended a soft loan of Rs 990 crore towards it, had in 2018 given a go-ahead to the Pune civic body to start tender process for a section of the project.

Accordingly, the PMC floated tenders of Rs 390-crore work for four projects, but the private agencies, which expressed interest, quoted higher rate. Subsequently, the PMC had sought the Centre’s permission to reissue tenders for the work.

The Centre, however, refused to cancel the earlier tender process and directed PMC to approve at least one of the tenders to start work on the project. The Centre said the JICA loan was likely to be withdrawn if funds were not used for the rejuvenation project.

“The civic body was reluctant to consider the quotations (submitted by the private agencies) as they were very high. Now, the PMC has decided to negotiate with a company that had quoted 14 per cent more than the estimated project cost. The PMC would ask the company to settle for 10 per cent more than the project cost,” a civic official said.

Under the proposed project, the PMC plans to construct 11 new sewage treatment plants (STPs) of 396 million litres per day (MLD) capacity, lay 113.6 km of sewers and construct 24 community toilets.

The 11 new STPs were proposed at the botanical garden, Baner, Warje, Vadgaon Budruk, Tanajiwadi, Naidu hospital, Dhanori, Bhairoba Nalla, Mundhwa, Kharadi and Matsya Beej centre. The project was to be completed in three years.

In October last year, the PMC had started work, worth Rs 23.5 crore, to lay 38-km new sewer lines at Baner area so that waste generated in the area is sent to an STP to be constructed in Baner area. The work was undertaken as a part of the development of Aundh-Baner-Balewadi (ABB) as a ‘smart’ area.

As per the agreement between the Union government and JICA for implementation of the project, it is necessary for the PMC to take the approval of JICA for each of the work orders.