Hyderabad: Big projects move at snail's pace

Hyderabad: Contractors who have bagged multi-crore infrastructure projects have exceeded their deadlines by a wide margin. But few have been penalised.

Indian Hume Pipes Pvt Ltd, contracted to build the Rs 330-crore World Bank-funded project at Malkajgiri, was fined Rs 80 lakh for slow progress and delays.

Larsen & Toubro was booked by the GHMC for dangerous open trenches at Yousufguda. The contractor was booked for exceeding the time limit to restore the roads. 

The main reasons for these delays and shortcomings are sub-leasing of contracts, appointing of unskilled labour, and reappointing contractors who have already violated rules.

Several contractors have been found to be negligent and have caused accidents both fatal and non-fatal, but only one contractor - responsible for manhole deaths at Madhapur - has been barred.

A senior GHMC officer explains why the system needs an overhaul: “With the e-tendering system in place, a contractor can bid for multiple projects. Big brands (contractors) usually have one architectural and supervisory team. The project is taken up in a phased manner and once phase 1 is done, the contractor claims his bills. It takes a week to pass the bill and around a week to clear it. It is the clearance of the bill that delays the work.”

He said that another reason for the delay was sub-leasing of contracts. “Due to payment issues between the original and the leased contractor, the work slows down,” he said. Mismatch of infrastructure requirements is another prime reason. Prof. N.V. Ramana, a civil engineering expert from Jawaharlal Nehru Technology University (JNTU), said that when a project is planned, a virtual inspection is mandatory.

“As the work progresses, there are drawbacks that hinder the work like unsuitable  soil, land acquisition, labour, delay in design being approved by the government agency, change in alignment, etc. The site requirements differ from the project plan,” he said. 

Any delay in the project definitely leads to cost overrun, he said. “An investigation of the work frame has to be done before the project is executed.”

He added that the agreement includes a clause that states that if the contractor exceeds the time frame, the government agency can impose hefty fines. However, the fault should be the contractor’s. If the contractor completes the work before time he can be rewarded.

Accidents caused due to project delays

On March 23: Oruganti Chandrashekar Rao, 70, fell through the barricades into a trench dug by Megha Engineering Infrastructure Limited at Balanagar. The contractor had exceeded the deadline. A criminal case has been booked and investigation is on. 

November 2016: An eight-foot sinkhole opened at Malkajgiri T-Junction and three motorists had a narrow escape. Hume Pipes Private Limited, the contractor, was fined Rs 80 lakhs by the Water Board for delays. No case has been booked.

June 2016: A 24-year-old hotel worker drowned in a storm water-filled trench dug by Water Board-appointed contractor GSK, at Ayyappa Society in Madhapur. The Board merely blacklisted the contractor.