Patiala MC awards waste management work to debarred firm

AS PER GOVERNMENT GUIDELINES, ANY FIRM BLACKLISTED IN STATE OR ELSEWHERE CAN’T BE AWARDED A TENDER

PATIALA : The Patiala Municipal Corporation (PMC) has awarded a ₹6.85-crore tender for bio-remediation of dumpsite to a firm that has been debarred by a Jharkhand-based civic body for breach of clauses in a similar tender.

The PMC allegedly violated the terms and conditions fixed for the bidders and awarded the work to the firm — Akanksha Enterprises — even though it was the only one to qualify in technical bid. As per government guidelines, a tender can’t be awarded if there is single applicant.

As per records, the tender was floated for second time on May 19, 2020, and technical bids were opened on June 6, 2020. Though three firms applied, but only one qualified on technical grounds.

Once the company cleared the technical bid, the MC received a complaint from another participant that the firm has been debarred by Jharkhand’s Adityapur Municipal Corporation. On June 30, PMC wrote to the commissioner of Adityapur MC, seeking clarification on the status of Akanksha Enterprises.

In its reply on July 10, Adityapur MC commissioner said: “We debarred the company on June 4 due to negligence in performing the task in a stipulated time and also forfeited its ₹54.33 lakh security deposit. The case has been sent to state urban development authority for blacklisting of the firm.” Akanksha Enterprises was part of a consortium of three firms there and all three were debarred, the letter said.

Despite a clear reply that firm has been debarred, the PMC went ahead reportedly after taking legal advice from its lawyer. The firm originally quoted ₹8.39 crore for the work and reduced the bid to ₹6.85 crore in negotiations.

Mayor Sanjiv Bittu said he cleared the file on recommendation of MC commissioner, who can explain on tender conditions.

Commissioner Poonamdeep Kaur confirmed that the Jharkhand civic body did write about having debarred the firm. “After legal opinion, the head office cleared the file. We awarded the tender as the bid was much lower than the prevailing rate,” she said. Kaur said she took double bank guarantee before clearing the tender. “PMC has awarded tender as per the legal advice and there is nothing wrong,” she said.

The local representative of Akanksha Enterprises could not be reached for comment.