Strict action against contractors for delay in work, says Mayor

Siliguri: Gautam Deb, the Mayor of Siliguri, has ordered the issue of show-cause notices to contractors who have not been working.

In the ‘Talk to the Mayor’ programme, there have been complaints received against some contractors. The complaints state that some contractors of the Siliguri Municipal Corporation (SMC) were not working despite bagging quotations. In case of unsatisfactory answers or no answers at all, he has ordered the black listing of such companies.

After receiving the complaint, the Mayor ordered show cause letters to be sent to such contractors (those who did not do their work as per contract.) If the show cause letters do not work, then he has ordered to blacklist such contractors.

“No pending work will be tolerated. If any contractor cannot complete their work in time, they have to show valid reasons. If they are unable to show reasons, blacklist them. Dismiss them from all construction work. If required, pass short tenders and get the work done from any fund. Such contractors should be removed from all the works of SMC,” retorted Deb.

Many construction works of roads and drains have been approved by the SMC board. Tender process has been completed for these works. Even after five months, few works have not started yet. The Mayor got to know about this when people lodged complaints.

Officials of SMC had already sent them show cause letters, but to no avail.

On Saturday, a person staying near the dumping ground, lodged a complaint at Talk to the Mayor programme that during monsoon, water from the dumping ground enters neighboring localities. Owing to the fact, they have to face a lot of problems.

To solve the issue, a few months ago, the SMC had already approved a sewerage work with a budget of Rs 28 lakh, but the contractor has not started the work yet.

According to the SMC officials, they had sent the contractor a show cause letter twice, but still, the work has not started. The Mayor instructed the officials to take strict action against the contractor. More such complaints have come up to the Mayor.