Andhra Pradesh - Guntur   

No takers for road contract works in Guntur

Ramesh Susarla

Road works in Guntur district make no headway

GUNTUR: Road repairs/laying of new roads are not taking place at the desired pace, though the Guntur circle of Roads and Buildings Department is plush with sanction of works and funds. There is none to bid for these works despite floating several tenders in the past eight months.

Road improvement works on a length of 648 km out of the 3,375 km road network in Guntur district have been sanctioned and tenders floated by the department, but in 40 per cent of the cases, contractors are not coming forward to take up works for various reasons.

The gravity of the problem can be understood from the fact that out of 27 works sanctioned (Rs.6 crores) to carry out cyclone Ogni-related `flood damage repairs', there is no response for six tenders, while 10 were just grounded and only 11 have been completed. Tenders have been called five times for seven NABARD works, but none showed interest.

Under State Repair non-Plan works, 59 works have been sanctioned, but only 19 could be completed with no response for 12 works from contractors.

Similar is the fate of works under the 12th Finance Commission sanctioned funds with no response for six works. Flood Bank restoration work at Vallabhapuram (Rs. 6.5 crores) is yet to be grounded as there is no response to tender call.

Three major factors that keep contractors away are non-payment of 5 per cent additionally on the estimated value of works as the estimated value includes overheads and 10 per cent profit component for contractor.

For INDIRAMMA works, District Collector G. Jayalakshmi called a meeting. of all crusher owners in the district and made them agree to sell granite chips at 30 per cent lower rates. In the open market, however, prices have gone three fold in the past six months in phases.

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