2nd Time Corp Invoted Bids For Drainage
For the second time, the Coimbatore Corporation has invited bids from national-level firms for implementing two components of its Rs.413 crore underground drainage scheme. The first invitation a few months ago did not receive any response as the rates quoted were not affordable for bidders, according to an official in the Corporation. The Corporation then took the matter to the State Government and got the rates revised. Some of the conditions for eligibility were also found to be too stiff, the official said. These were also the relaxed.
Sources in the civic body said on Thursday that the fresh invitation for tenders on laying trunk sewers, lateral connections and inspection chambers were an indication of the project moving ahead. The lack of response to the first invitation had raised doubts over the scheme’s progress.
The cost of the works for Zone III and VII was Rs.45.70 lakh and those for Zones IV and VIII Rs.94 lakh. According to the Corporation, bids would be accepted till August 14 and a pre-tender meeting with prospective bidders would be held on July 23.
The sources said the civic body had fixed 18 months as the time-frame for the works to be completed. While almost all the schemes were to be completed in 18 months from the time they are begun, some of the schemes that have been cleared by the Central Government under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission have not made much progress after the approval.
The underground drainage scheme was inching towards implementation only now, after having been mooted in 1998. The sources said the focus now was on ensuring that there was no further delay, lest rising costs make it impossible to implement the scheme. There was already a fear among the councillors that a much-awaited scheme might not even take off because of the cost escalation. They had already expressed an apprehension in the Council that the Central Government grant might not cover the cost increase.
With only 20 per cent of the 105 sq.km. city having underground sewers, the Corporation said it was keen on implementing this project in the interests of sanitation in the city. “Most of the councillors are eagerly waiting for the scheme to be completed,” Communist Party of India councillor K. Purushothaman said. Almost all the areas to be covered under the scheme were added to the city in 1981 when the Coimbatore Municipality was upgraded into a Corporation.
These areas had only open sewers, the councillor said. “My ward (no.61) has 54 streets that had been formed before 1981. Subsequently, seven layouts had formed. And, all these have only open drainage,” he said. “There should be no further delay in implementing the scheme. But, we are opposed to the Corporation collecting a monthly usage charge of Rs.170,” he said. “The connection deposit is acceptable, but not the monthly charge.”
