Contractor blacklisted for bad roads in Maharashtra CM's constituency

THANE: A civic contractor entrusted with a road revamp project was blacklisted for three years after he repeatedly failed to comply by the mandated quality standards while corporation engineers entrusted with supervising his job have also been issued show cause notices for failing to keep tabs on his works, municipal commissioner Abhijit Bangar informed Monday.
The order was issued by Bangar, Monday, after he conducted a surprise visit following repeated complaints from residents about the badly executed road stretch in Kopri that incidentally is part of chief minister Eknath Shinde’s assembly constituency.
The blacklisted contractor identified by the corporation press statement is AIC construction while the junior and executive engineers of the ward have been asked to explain this lapse in quality control.
“The commissioner had instructed the contractor and engineers to undertake corrective action a few months back and also slapped a notice for the shoddy work. However, despite that, the contractor failed to meet the required standards following which he was issued a fresh notice to justify his stand. However, he failed to respond satisfactorily after which the commissioner blacklisted him,” said a civic official.
According to officials, the action would prove a deterrent for other contractors and engineers considering the corporation has taken a stern view of ensuring roads are constructed of good quality in Shinde’s city. The state is funding Rs 605 cr for city road revamp and has put the onus on corporations to ensure quality. Accordingly, Bangar announced to levy rs one lakh penalty for every sq meter of pothole spotted on newly laid roads in the city. A team of IIT-Bombay engineers has also been roped in to work with contractors to ensure durable roads, officials said.
It may be noted that Thane roads have attracted sharp criticism in the last few years and the state and the local corporation want to take no chances especially with the election season approaching. Shinde during his tenure as guardian minister in the previous government had suspended engineers after roads developed damages during the monsoon.