Work related to covering of drain in Delhi stalled

Work related to covering of Taimur Nagar drains in south Delhi area has been stalled since 2008 due to legal wrangling, the Rajya Sabha was informed today.
A scheme for 'remodeling of existing nallah along Taimur Nagar and Khizarabad village' was prepared by the erstwhile Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) in the year 2008 for an amount of Rs 368.48 lakh.
"The work was initially awarded for a contractual amount of Rs 368.48 lakh with the time of completion being 18 months. The contractor did not carry out the work as per the requisite pace and the physical progress achieved was only 7 per cent even after a lapse of 11 months," Minister of State in the Ministry of Home Affairs, Kiren Rijiju, said in a written reply.

The minister was replying to a question regarding the starting and other details on the covering of the drain.
Thereafter, the contractor was debarred by the MCD from working and action was taken against it, and the work was re-tendered on risk and cost basis six times, but it could not be processed for award due to one reason or another.
Later, the funds required for the work were revised up to Rs 565.95 lakh, and the funds were to provided from the the South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) Plan Head and partially from MPLADS (Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme), he said.

The SDMC was one of three civic bodies formed after the trifurcation of the MCD in 2012. The other two being North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) and East Delhi Municipal Corporation (EDMC).

The balanced work was finally awarded with an order dated May 17, 2013, and with a time of completion of 15 months of the contractual amount of Rs 565.95 lakh.
"After award of the work, the contractor filed a writ petition before the Hon'ble High Court of Delhi, disputing the date of validity of its quoted rate. The court, with an order dated August 12, 2013 decided the matter in favour of the contractor," Rijiju said.

The SDMC challenged the said order of the court before the Supreme Court, which with an order dated November 1, 2013, stayed the impugned order of the Delhi High Court. The matter is still subjudice before the Supreme Court, he said.
In the meantime, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) in a separate case, with an interim order dated December 16, 2013 has restrained the civic bodies from covering the drains in Delhi. Final orders of the NGT are still awaited, he said, adding, therefore the work could not be completed till date.