BMC awards itself another controversy

brihanmumbai municipal corporation (bmc) has landed itself in a controversy over the awarding of a contract for decoration and catering at shahaji raje bhosale kreeda sankul (andheri sports complex). the three- year-contract was initially awarded to ambika decorators for rs 28.50 lakh. however, in a surprise move, mayor hareshwar patil cancelled the same after a month and awarded the contract to another company m/s jairam shivji for rs 23.50 lakh, which is rs five lakh less than the previous contract.the decision on the tender is taken by nine members who form the board of trustees of the 'brihanmumbai kreeda and lalitkala pratishthan', a body governing the sports complex. the board includes among others the mayor as chairman, municipal commissioner as vice-chairman, standing committee chairman, leader of the house, and leader of the opposition as members. miffed with patil's move, leader of the opposition a k bastiwala wrote a protesting letter to commissioner k c srivastava who ordered a stay on the tender. the tender was floated in the first week of july. on july 19, ambika decorators got a letter from the bmc which intimated them about their tender being passed. they were asked to deposit a sum of rs 28.50 lakh as the payment for the first year of contract and a similar amount as deposit. however, despite the payments made by ambika decorators, their tender was cancelled by the mayor on monday and the same was awarded to m/s jairam shivji. deputy mayor arun deo, who is also protesting against the mayor's decision, said that 10 companies had responded to the tender notice with ambika decorators having the highest bidding. "the other company which was subsequently awarded the contract had a rs five lakh less bidding", said deo. he said that during the first meeting where the tender was awarded to ambika, no objection was raised. datta dalvi, chairman of standing committee in the bmc objected that the company did not fulfill all the conditions and norms of the tender and forwarded the same to the legal department. "following this, the mayor called a second meeting and awarded the contract to m/s jairaj," deo said. when contacted, the mayor said that ambika decorators did not fulfill all the conditions of the tender due to which their contract was cancelled." manish.pachouly@timesgroup.com