Chandigarh: Lions again awarded road-cleaning contract

Chandigarh, March 25

The Municipal Corporation (MC) has once again awarded the contract for GIS-based mechanised and manual sweeping of roads in southern sectors to Lions Service Ltd.

The current contract of the firm is to expire on March 31. The MC had invited bids in January to take over the work and the bids were to be submitted till March 8. Lions Service Ltd, BVG International and Antony Waste Ltd had submitted their bids for the work.

Municipal Commissioner Anindita Mitra said the firm had submitted the much lower bid than the previous one. With the new contract, the MC would save more than Rs1.14 crore per month and more than Rs41.26 crore in three years.

The civic body has been facing a flak for continuing with the firm to which it pays about Rs4.70 crore per month for sweeping roads in southern sectors. The tender was floated with an aim to bring down the cost and to provide a better service in the city, which has slipped to the 66th position in the Swachhta rankings in a nationwide survey.

The road-cleaning tender is meant for Sector 31 to 63. If the civic body gets a good response for the work, mechanised sweeping may be considered for the whole city.

It has been a major political issue during the MC poll. Last October, the corporation had to renew the sanitation contract of Lion Services till March 31 as officials failed to float a tender in the stipulated time.

The House had ordered a high-level inquiry into “deliberate delay in inviting a fresh tender”. It was one of the main reasons for a former medical officer of health (MOH), a Punjab cadre officer, to be repatriated to the parent state.

MC to save over Rs41.26 cr in 3 yrs

Municipal Commissioner Anindita Mitra said the firm had submitted a much lower bid than the previous one. With the new contract, the MC would save more than Rs1.14 crore per month and more than Rs41.26 crore in three years.