Cochin Smart Mission Limited (CSML) has warned contracting firms that incur delay in completing many smart road and other infrastructure projects of invoking the ‘risk and cost’ clause if any project has to be re-tendered, the agency’s new Chief Executive Officer Shaji V. Nair has said.
The errant firm will thus have to, among others, pay the difference in cost for which such projects are re-tendered. This comes in the wake of several projects not adhering to deadline, thus inviting all-round criticism.
The extension of the operational life of CSML till June 2024 has given a fresh lease of life to various overdue projects, whose revised deadline is set to expire in December. Among them was the Chungam bridge that would link Fort Kochi and Mattancherry and an adjacent culvert, which were expected to be ready for opening by month-end, said Mr. Nair.
The arterial K.B. Jacob Road in Fort Kochi would be redeveloped as a smart road by September, while other smart roads in the region would be ready for opening by December, said sources.
The initial contract with firms that were awarded the projects was terminated by CSML owing to their inability to complete them. Even now, there is delay in shifting overhead powerlines and cables as an underground system alongside the proposed smart roads. Having learnt from past experience with contracting firms, CSML divided road stretches among two firms while re-tendering them, so that the works could be carried out simultaneously.
Close on the heels of renovating, among others, Rajendra Maidan, the agency is readying to preen up more such open spaces and parks. In addition, steps are being taken to ensure that works or projects undertaken have a five-year operation and maintenance agreement, to ensure their prompt upkeep.
