Relining of canals: State govt giving relaxations to interested firms

Delay in starting project

• The state government had first floated the tenders for this project in 2012 and then in 2014, but no private company showed interest both times. The tenders were again floated this year and the Irrigation Department brought about some changes in conditions during pre-bid meetings

Archit Watts

Tribune News Service

Muktsar, July 16

As there has been a lot of delay in starting the relining of Rajasthan Feeder and Sirhind Feeder canals, the process for which started in 2011, the state government is giving some relaxations to contractors who have finally shown interest in the Rs 1,800-crore project. The work is meant to be completed in four years in four phases.

The state government has agreed to charge taxes, duties, levies, VAT, labour, cess, royalty, toll, etc, only at the time of submission of the bid. If there is any variation in taxes in the next four years, the increased amount of taxes collected would be reimbursed.

Notably, seepage from the twin canals is a major cause of waterlogging in this region.

The state government had first floated the tenders for this project in 2012 and then in 2014, but no private company had shown interest both times. The tenders were again floated this year and the Irrigation Department brought some changes in the conditions during the first and second pre-bid meetings.

Now, the third and final pre-bid meeting is scheduled on July 20, where some more relaxations are likely to be given to those parties who have shown interest in the project.

Sources in the Irrigation Department said the parties which had applied for the tenders included Hindustan Construction Company, Sadbhavana Construction Company, NCC Construction and Duncan Construction.

They said the state’s Chief Secretary was personally looking after the project. The Chief Secretary himself has formed some committees to look into this project and change the specifications, they said.

When contacted, SS Grewal, Chief Engineer (Canals), Irrigation department, said, “The tendering process is on and we are hopeful that it will be allotted this time.”

Courtesy: The Tribune