The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Tenders floated for demolition again

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Jan 31, 2007
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Tenders floated for demolition again

Sandhya Soman

No takers for the job in first round: officials

CHENNAI : The Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA) has floated tenders for the second time for demolishing illegal multi-storeyed commercial buildings in the city.

Only a handful of respondents purchased the bid document in December 2006, according to official sources.

However, nobody turned up on the bidding day, which forced the Authority to float the tender again on January 18 seeking individuals or companies with expertise in undertaking demolition work in a quick and safe manner.

The CMDA had sought the guidance of the High Court-appointed monitoring committee on how to proceed further based on the Court order directing the Authority to modify or demolish the buildings that were constructed after 1999 in violation of development control rules.

The committee, in turn, constituted a sub-committee in its first meeting to look into the methods of demolition and provide technical expertise to CMDA. The sub-committee pointed out efficient and safe methods for taking up demolition. It was also supposed to help identify agencies to execute the demolition work.

Sources point out that identifying agencies to execute demolition work has become crucial with CMDA tipped to take action against illegal structures soon. "We might have to demolish illegally constructed portions without damaging the rest of the building," says an official.

Experts say skilled manpower and machinery are required to undertake demolition of buildings constructed using the latest pre-stressed technology. Says A.R Santhakumar, academician and technology consultant: "There is no dearth of experts in India who can handle demolition of pre-stressed concrete buildings. With the right equipment and a proper plan and demolition analysis, the load can be removed step by step."

However, agencies with skilled personnel and cutting edge technology might not be interested unless they are assured of a sizeable amount of work, says Mr. Santhakumar.

CMDA, sources say, is not in a position to reveal details about the number of buildings and nature of work in the tender document.

Currently, the Authority has no trained personnel at its disposal for undertaking demolition work and had been hiring workers on a contract basis.

Lack of personnel has been cited as the cause of delay in executing demolition work in the past.

The new tender documents will be on sale till February 5.

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