Mayor sets December deadline for tranche-II KEIIP projects

Kolkata: Mayor of Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) Firhad Hakim on Monday held a meeting where a December deadline was reiterated for completing the projects by Kolkata Environmental Improvement Investment Program (KEIIP) under Tranche-II while the civic body will take up road repairing work following its completion.

Addressing the press after the meeting that was attended by councillors, borough chairmen and other departmental officials, Hakim said that the Tranche II works should be completed by December. In case they are not, KMC will blacklist contractors executing the project regardless of whether it causes losses to KEIIP. He said three works are pending in this tranche. Hakim said that this is to ensure people are not inconvenienced. Further, the Mayor said that once these works are over, mainly concentrated in the Tollygunge area, the KMC will take up road development works instead of waiting for KEIIP to do it.

He announced that works under Tranche III projects will be taken up from February. Such works will be executed in wards: 108,109,142,143,127,126,149,140,141,138. He said in the new 200 million project once the finance part is taken care of and agreement is signed work will begin in February 2025.

In the wake of several complaints relating to projects executed by the KEIIP, Hakim said it was a mistake to have made KEIIP a separate agency. However, now the KMC’s director general of the civil works department has been appointed to liaison between KMC and KEIIP. He will have to seek information from engineers as to which road or drainage requires repair works. The DGs of other departments too shall coordinate.