Karnal MC blacklists agency for 2 yrs over poor road construction

The Karnal Municipal Corporation (KMC) has barred an agency from participating in future bids for two years allegedly due to poor quality construction work of a road in Karna Canal market, earlier known as Mughal Canal market. The agency has also left the project incomplete, causing inconvenience to traders and commuters.

“The main issue was the quality of work. Samples of the road have failed to meet quality standards, due to which we have stopped the payments and blacklisted the agency for two years,” said Priyanka Saini, Executive Engineer (XEN), KMC.

The project, which aimed at converting the pothole-ridden bitumen roads into durable cement-concrete roads, was a long-standing demand of shopkeepers, commuters and people living in nearby areas. The Rs 2.43-crore work was allotted for two 1.21-km road stretches in March 2024, with September 16, 2024, as the deadline. However, work began in April due to the lack of site for preparing construction materials.

The agency also failed to complete one road of the market, it was abandoned midway. “A joint inspection will now be conducted to measure the completed work and a re-tendering process will be initiated for the remaining work. The agency has also been asked to join the inspection. The incomplete project has increased the risk of accidents and is causing difficulties for residents. Traders have also expressed frustration over delay and poor execution.

Shiv Kumar Sharma, a resident, said it was surprising that the agency had left the work midway as it was impacting the business. Customers avoid visiting the market due to the poor state of roads.

“It is disheartening to see such negligence in an important market area. We hope the authorities will expedite the re-tendering process to resolve this issue soon,” said Ashish Kumar, another resident.

The authorities claimed that they would expedite the process to complete the project and ensure better quality control in future construction works. “We will ensure that such shoddy work is not done again. The tender process for remaining works will be undertaken soon,” said XEN Saini.