Blacklisted in 2016, Mumbai firm set to bag Rs 1,566 crore CC road contracts
Mumbai: The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has awarded a new contract to RPS InfraProjects, a firm previously blacklisted for poor road works. The company was banned following its involvement in the 2016 road scam but has now been chosen for phase 2 of the Rs 6,000-crore cement concrete (CC) road projects in Mumbai.
RPS InfraProjects was blacklisted for seven years after an FIR was registered against it, and two of its directors were arrested. However, the company stated that the ban was later reduced to three years, and a speaking order issued in October 2019 modified the blacklisting. The joint venture involving RPS InfraProjects was directed to carry out repairs on roads under inquiry, and the blacklisting period lapsed in 2019. Since then, the firm has executed various road projects for BMC.
Despite the company's controversial history, BMC floated phase 2 tenders for CC road works in January. RPS InfraProjects emerged as the lowest bidder, making it eligible for the Rs 1,566-crore projects in the western suburbs.
Shiv Sena (UBT) MLA Aaditya Thackeray questioned the decision to award the contract to a previously blacklisted company. In a letter to Municipal Commissioner Bhushan Gagrani, Thackeray demanded that the phase 2 tenders be scrapped to avoid potential taint. He also called for a probe against officials who allegedly colluded with the company. Thackeray warned that if the MVA forms the government after the assembly elections, it would scrap the new contracts and halt payments to all contractors.
Samajwadi Party MLA Rais Shaikh alleged that the roads under investigation in the 2016 case were counted towards the company's experience when BMC considered its qualifications for the new tenders. RPS InfraProjects denied this claim.
The company also defended its involvement in repairs on the Himalaya foot overbridge (FOB) at CSMT in 2013, which collapsed six years later, causing several fatalities. RPS InfraProjects stated that it conducted small repairs in 2013, with the warranty expiring in 2014, and the collapsed section was not the one they worked on. BMC issued a show-cause notice to RPS Infra in 2019, but after replying, the issue was closed, and RPS Infra was declared not guilty.
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Double-decker electric bus gutted in fire at Kurla BEST depot
Mumbai (PTI): An empty double-decker electric bus was gutted in a fire during servicing at a BEST depot in Mumbai's Kurla area on Sunday, officials said, adding that nobody was injured.
The blaze broke out inside the Kurla BEST bus depot near Kanakia Building at 4.14 pm, according to preliminary information from the Mumbai Fire Brigade.
The parked bus was unoccupied at the time of the incident.
Fire brigade personnel rushed to the spot and brought the blaze under control. The exact cause of the fire was yet to be ascertained, they said.
No injuries were reported in the incident, officials added.
The Brihanmumbai Electricity Supply and Transport (BEST) Undertaking has hired 50 electric double-decker buses from Switch Mobility in its fleet of around 2,700 buses.
