COIMBATORE: A section of contractors working for the state highways department has alleged that there is no transparency in issue of work orders and that officers were awarding projects without following tender norms.
According to sources, on November 9, the highways department announced four projects including widening of Avinashi - Mettupalayam Road, Coimbatore - Siruvani Road and Avinashi - Palladam, Pollachi and Cochin Road. Contractors were told to submit bids online by December 11. The bids were scrutinised on December 12 and contracts were awarded.
The Avinashi-Mettupalayam Road widening work was split into two tenders with Rs 19.82 crore and Rs 54.73 crore respectively. The Coimbatore-Siruvani road project was Rs 24.29 crore and Avinashi-Cochin road was Rs 34 crore.
Contractors said though 13 companies had submitted bids, most of them were removed from the list as field inspection certificate was not issued by the Superintendent Engineer of Coimbatore Divisional Office.
A contractor who did not want to be named said, “As per the highways department recent norms, any contractor who wants to participate in tender process should obtain field inspection certificate report before competing for the tender. The field inspection certificate means, contractors should be given a certificate from the department stating they had visited the road for an analysis before making a quotation for the works. If it is not attached, the bid applications will not be taken for scrutiny.” Another contractor, who was also rejected, said he attempted to get the certificate for the last one month but could not.
Further, he alleged that in the last one year many projects were awarded after eliminating the number of bidders by not issuing the certificate.
He said they have sent a complaint regarding it to the office of DVAC and the Chief Minister’s Special Cell.
TNIE tried to contact H Ramesh, Superintendent Engineer of Coimbatore Circle several times, but he did not give an appointment.
Also, he did not respond to phone calls and text messages from TNIE.
R Gnanamoorthi, Divisional Engineer, Coimbatore said he could not comment on the tender process but was ready to talk on the process of road works.