Lukewarm response for nala de-silting tenders

Contractors reluctant to take up work due to nature of job, GHMC’s terms and conditions

De-silting of the stormwater drains has become a daunting task for the GHMC ahead of the monsoon season, with few contractors willing to take up the task. As a result, the civic body has found itself in a tight spot, unable to get the job done without compromises.

Silt removal from the drains or nalas, though a year-round chore, is intensified during summer months starting from February-March up to May-June, in order to prepare the channels for evacuation of huge amounts of surplus water from various tanks and residential colonies.

As the job is labour intensive and requires one to get the hands dirty, the number of bidders has been coming down gradually. GHMC’s terms and conditions have not made it any easier.

“The contractors are required to transport the waste removed from the drains to the solid waste management facility at Jawahar Nagar. But they are reluctant to do the same, citing long distance,” shared a senior Engineering official from GHMC.

Instead, they are offering to transfer the waste at the nearest garbage dump. However, payments to the contractors are made based on the quantity of silt removed, and none except the SWM facility at Jawaharnagar has a weigh bridge to quantify the waste.

Contractors often end up doing a shoddy job of clearing the nalas, but are claiming payments for more than the actual waste retrieved.

“The nala in our area is very deep, but de-silting is only half done every time. As a result, during heavy rains, water juts out from every catch-pit, inundating the whole area,” complains Satyanarayana, a resident of Chintal Basti.