The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike’s (BBMP) hopes of procuring five pressure jet cleaners to clean the city roads and footpaths in the Central Business District (CBD) have been dashed. The Urban Development Department (UDD) has pulled up the civic body citing various irregularities in the tender for the same.
Under the ‘Shubhra Bengaluru’ scheme, the BBMP had proposed to procure jet washers and floated the tender, which included operation and maintenance for three years. These five machines were estimated to cost ₹12.4 crore.
In a letter to Chief Commissioner Gaurav Gupta last week, the UDD pointed out that the tender was against the guidelines of the Karnataka Transparency in Public Procurement Act. Though three bidders had participated in it, the tender was not finalised in accordance with the procedures laid down under the Karnataka Transparency in Public Procurement (KTPP) Act.
As per the norms, the bidder should have experience in operation and maintenance of at least four such machines. However, in the letter, the UDD noted that the BBMP has furnished no records of the chosen bidder either being a manufacturer/ authorised supplier/ authorised dealer of the jet machines. Instead, the civic body has furnished records of the manufacturer.
As per regulations, the tender should not include operation and maintenance clause. However, the BBMP’s tender includes this clause. UDD has pointed out that as per rules, manufacturers should have at least two years’ experience. In this case, the manufacturer, whose records have been furnished instead of the chosen bidder, too fails this condition, as the organisation has just one year and six months’ experience.
The UDD has also sought details of the civic officials involved in preparing the detailed project report, the tender and finalising it, given the various discrepancies, besides responding to the various points raised by it.
Senior civic officials, who wished to remain anonymous, said the tender was floated after it was scrutinised by a technical committee. Admitting that Government funds can only be used for Capital expenditures (CAPEX), the official said the operating expenses (OPEX) was included in the tender. “Usually, for the OPEX, another tender is floated. Since this is a time consuming process, the OPEX portion was also included in the tender,” the official pointed out.
