Contractors hesitant to take up civil works over Rs 2,250 crore dues from 5 city corporations

BENGALURU: With the monsoon season officially setting in, contractors are giving a shock to the Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) right during the rainy season.

Contractors are unwilling to take up various civil works in the city including roads, potholes, drainage, footpaths, buildings, parks, etc. About Rs 2,250 crore in bills is pending from the five corporations, and in some zones, pending bills have not been cleared for two years.

Most notably, GBA has kept contractors’ bills pending for 28 months in the West and 26 months in the North corporations. Additionally, due to the war, the prices of raw materials have become expensive, so contractors are reluctant to take up works.

Manjunath K T, president of the GBA contractors’ association, told Public TV, “Bills are being cleared by following different procedures in the five city corporations due to which contractors are facing problems. The bill that were raised prior to formation of the GBA should have been cleared through one account of the GBA itself, but they distributed the bills. In the East city corporation, payments are made quickly, but in the West corporation, payments are not being released. They are not even able to clear salary dues of staff”.

Further, he said, “The Assembly constituencies have been divided unscientifically among the corporations. Due to the Middle East crisis, the price of asphalt has more than doubled. We have appealed to Bengaluru Development Minister Krishna Byre Gowda too and assured to work with him. Contractors are not able to pay their children’s school fees or repay loans. We hope the minister will set things right soon”.