Chances are our roads will still have dark spots

Chances are our roads will still have dark spots
Officials worried that the under-quoted bids could result in bad maintenance of streetlights; the civic body may go for a re-tender, even as contractors admit they will opt for underhand means

The city’s streetlights have given the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) a shock: the kind the city has never seen or felt before. No, the entire city has not been plunged into darkness, but huge sections of it soon may be, if under-quoted tender bids for streetlight maintenance are accepted at face value.

Instead of submitting a hugely inflated bid for the maintenance of the 4.4 lakh streetlights in the city, as is the norm, electrical contractors — due to severe infighting among themselves — have quoted the amount of money they need for the purpose as over 50 per cent lower than what the BBMP has estimated!

Before the city can rejoice at the lowered costs and the impact of genuine competition rather than cartelisation (see box), some contractors, off-the-record, admit that maintenance will be a problem. They think they can make up for the shortfall in funds by ensuring that only every alternate streetlight is working. Also, they feel they can make some money from the Mayor and Deputy Mayor’s funds which are used for lighting in parks.

BBMP called for bids on the tenders in the city’s eight zones in June and opened them about 20 days back. They had set a base price (minimum execution price) of Rs 50 crore for 166 packages. Two or three wards, depending on size, form one package.

BBMP officials claim that they had taken into account the rising cost of all kinds of bulbs including fluorescent tubelights, compact lights, high-pressure mercury vapour lamps and timer switches. They also took into account the cost of fuel for the jeeps with ladders that are used by contractors to fix streetlights, before arriving at the Rs 50 crore figure. The successful bidders are supposed to maintain the streetlights for a period of two years.

BBMP executive engineer (electrical - east zone) K Govindaiah told Bangalore Mirror: “The question of BBMP having inflated the base amount does not arise as we have calculated the cost on the basis of the prices of raw materials as prescribed by the Karnataka Public Works Department for 2014-15. Accordingly, the base price shot up by 34 per cent compared with the previous tender.”

Another BBMP official said: “We arrived at the Rs 50 crore base amount after taking into account the current rates for bulbs, poles, tubelights, timer switches and other equipment. As we have drawn public flak for poor streetlighting facility in the city, we wanted to ensure that the rates are reasonable and expected the contractors to quote around Rs 60-65 crore. But when we opened the tenders, we were stunned to see the contractors have quoted 60 per cent less than what we had pegged the costs at. The lowest amount quoted was Rs 26 crore.”

The mandarins of BBMP are stunned, as even two years back, when tenders were floated for the maintenance of streetlights divided into 127 works packages, the contracts were awarded for Rs 22 crore. They fear that such under-quoting by the bidders would result in bad maintenance of streetlights.

“How can they now take up 166 packages for Rs 26 crore? Even with Rs 22 crore and 39 fewer packages, the city streets have largely remained in the dark for two years. A majority of the streetlights do not function properly,” an official pointed out.

BBMP officials feel that the deflated quotes are a fallout of a chasm in the electrical contractor cartel. “Unlike the other tenders, where all contractors reach an understanding prior to bidding and quote exorbitant prices, the electrical contractors stand divided this time. Trying to compete with each other, they have ended up quoting lower amounts,” an official said.

Sridhar, a contractor who has been bidding for streetlights in the East zone, said: “As we have already invested in logistics, labour and infrastructure for several years, we cannot exit the race now. If we don’t participate in bidding now, it will be difficult for us to get ready for the next bidding.’’ He let the cat out of the bag, though, with: “ There was no co-ordination between electrical contractors which forced us to bid at lower prices. “

Another contractor, Rajkumar, who handles Jayanagar area, also admitted: “We are low on mutual trust this time and this has increased competition among us, forcing us to bid for lower prices. To win any race, we should be in race and quoting low is the winning mantra here.”

The BBMP is now contemplating whether to issue work orders to the successful bidders or to explore the option of a re-tender. Even the corporators are rattled by the situation.

At Banashankari ward, the lowest bidder has quoted Rs 18 lakh against the BBMP base price of Rs 41 lakh. Local corporator and chairman of standing committee (ward works) A H Basavaraj, said: “I cannot believe that contractors have quoted so less. I will hold meetings with the chief engineer and the technical vigilance cell working under commissioner (TVCC) to check the feasibility of issuing the work orders.”

He pointed out that low bids meant lower quality. He said: “We will also discuss the impact on city if work orders are issued to these contractors at the deflated prices. We will also request tax-payers to react on the issue. People should come forward to see that streetlights in their wards or near their homes are functioning properly. They need to put pressure on elected representatives to see that every evening, the streetlights are switched on. With this, we can force contractors to work efficiently.”

DARKNESS RULES

The worst-lit areas include BBMP head office (Hudson circle), Subbaiah circle, Shantinagar Double Road, parts of JC Road, opposite Mayo Hall, some parts of Malleshwaram and Rajajinagar, Assaye Road, Mission Road, Richmond Road, Hosur Road from Vellara junction to Madiwala junction, Sujatha Talkies road, Cunningham Road, parts of Frazer Town, Coles Park, ITPL main road from Graphite India Junction to Vydehi hospital, Old Airport Road from HAL to Kundalahalli Junction, some parts of Bommanahalli and Bannerghatta Road.
THE CARTEL MAFIA


Unlike civil contractors who function as one cartel, electrical contractors have lost faith in each other over the last two years. Usually, to grab such contracts, all contractors sit together and decide the course of action. One contractor plays a dummy role and quotes a price much higher than the base price, while the other quotes a price little lower than him. The person with the lower quote wins the contract. But, sources say, for the 2014-15 contract, there was no unity amongst the contractors, which forced them to go much below the BBMP’s quoted rates.
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