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Anushka Khare
Posted on: 2021-02-04 07:42:00
Viewer: 3,618
Comments: 0
Country: India
City: Bengaluru
Bengaluru, India (Urban Transport News): In a major step to speed-up the work on Bannerghatta Road, Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) has terminated a civil contract awarded to Simplex Infrastructure Limited. The contract was terminated on the account of an inordinate delay in the execution of work by the construction firm.
BMRCL had awarded the aforesaid contract to Simplex Infrastructure Limited for the construction of two elevated Metro lines: 7.5 km Kalena Agrahara-Swagath Road Cross on Bannerghatta Road and the 3km Nagasandra-Bangalore International Exhibition Centre (BIEC) on Tumakuru Road in the year 2017. The work was supposed to be completed by 2019 according to the terms of the letter of acceptance (LoA) issued to the firm.
Simplex has completed only 35% of civil work on Bannerghatta Road and 68% on Tumakuru Road by December 2020. Now the work has been stalled by the firm due to the fund crisis and non-payment of wages to the workers because last year, United Bank of India, the leader of a consortium of 28 lenders, identified Simplex as a ‘non-performing asset’.
Ajay Seth, Managing Director of BMRCL said that they have issued multiple notices to Simplex in the last two years to expedite the work by deploying additional manpower and machinery but they failed to perform because of the financial crisis.
We’ve issued a termination notice since the elevated section was getting delayed as Simplex was unable to perform. BMRCL expects it to complete work on Tumakuru Road.
BMRCL will now float a fresh tender to complete the pending work left by the Simplex. “It’s a challenge to select a new firm since it is a time-consuming process. Many contractors are now facing financial distress especially after the pandemic, so it is also not easy for them to mobilise additional resources. BMRCL may float a short-time tender and firms already working with them may be keen to take up this work,” said sources.
BMRCL has set a June 2024 deadline for commissioning of the Kalena Agrahara-Nagawara corridor which is part of the Rs 30,695 crores Bangalore Metro Phase 2 project.
For more details, please explore the "Bangalore Metro" page of Urban Transport News.
Anushka Khare
Anushka Khare is a Post Graduate in Journalism from Makhanlal Chaturvedi National University of Journalism and Communication, Bhopal (MP). She covers stories and updates from India.
