A tiff between two contractors’ associations over the construction of a convention centre has brought out fissures within the ruling council of the City Corporation, with the Mayor on one side and the Standing Committee chairpersons on the other.
At the centre of the storm is the proposed convention centre at Kuravankonam. The Kerala Sustainable Urban Development Project (KSUDP) had last year awarded a tender to construct the centre to a contractor owing allegiance to the left-leaning Contractors Union.
However, it was later decided that piling work has to be done as the ground was weak. The Corporation awarded this piling tender to another contractor, who had under quoted by 7 per cent. The piling work started in February this year and by March, 83 of the required 95 piles were constructed. The part bill presented by the contractor was not cleared on time and the fund lapsed.
“Though I had completed most of the work in March, I am yet to get paid. One of the reasons is that I refused to pay the bribe demanded by the Assistant Executive Engineer. I complained to the Corporation engineer as well as met the Mayor several times to get it cleared. Now, they are saying that they need to conduct a pile integrity test to ensure the quality to work, before the bills are cleared,” says contractor Raghunathan, who owes allegiance to the Contractors’ Association, which claims to be independent of any political party.
The Contractors Union alleged that the contractor had billed for more work than was actually done.
“While the actual depth of the pile was 8 metres, in the bill, he gave it as more than 10 metres. The bill is now of Rs.1.2 crore, whereas the initial estimate was just Rs.68 lakh,” says Madhu, a member of the Contractors Union.
Even as the Corporation was about to conduct the pile integrity test, more construction was carried out over the piles in the past two days, allegedly to increase the length of the piles, to match that in the bill.
The Corporation officials on Friday visited the site and stopped the work.
In the whole tussle, the Contractors Union is standing strongly behind the Mayor, even as the Standing Committee chairpersons have grouped together in the opposite camp. With only hardly three months left for the local body elections, the increasing rifts within the party could prove a headache for the ruling LDF.
