The long-awaited sewerage and drainage system in the State capital cleared the first hurdle after lingering for months since the first installment was sanctioned for zone-1 of the project that is a part of Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM).
The tender committee headed by Deputy Commissioner VK Choubey has finalised the bidder and now the file be pushed forward for final approval of the State Government and Ranchi Municipal Corporation will subsequently sign agreement with the lowest bidder.
“We are still in initial stages. Now the file will be sent for approval and then other procedures will follow too. But we hope that all procedures will be completed soon,” said Senior PRO of RMC, Ramkrishna Kumar.
As per the finalised tender for zone-1, SSG Infratech has been declared as l-1 bidder with the lowest cost of Rs 298-crores for the project whereas l&T has been declared l-2 and Simplex Co emerged as l-3. The project for the zone-1 has to be undertaken at a cost of Rs 302-crore and it has to be completed in the span of 24 months from the date of issuing of the work order including the monsoon period. Jharkhand Urban Development Corporation limited will be the nodal agency for the project.
The project will be financed upto 80 per cent by the Central Government and rest has to be managed by the State. The first installment for the project was released in March, 2014 however the project made no progress for months due to lok Sabha elections.
Notably, development of the sewerage collection system and drainage system for Zone-I envisages construction, erection, testing and commissioning of sewage treatment plant based on modern technologies; construction, erection, testing and commissioning of sewage pumping station at Kanke reservoir; providing, lowering, laying, jointing and testing, rising main ductile iron pipe line for Ranchi City. Around 192 km long sewerage network under Morhabadi, Gonda and Kanke, besides 212 km long drainage pipeline will be constructed in the zone-1 project.
“It is too early to put a timeline for the project. We are lagging way behind in schedule and we have many more things to do before the work starts,” maintained a member of the tender committee.
Ranchi has been divided into three zones for the sewerage and drainage system and a Japan based firm — Japan International Cooperation Agency — has also been negotiating with the State Government for providing loans for the construction of the system in the capital.