The Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) is undertaking a significant review of its infrastructure projects following mounting complaints about substandard civic works. Mayor Neeta Thakre has directed the administration to conduct third-party audits of at least 10% of all development works executed by contractors across the city.
High-Level Meeting at NMC Headquarters
The directive was issued during a high-level meeting on the civic body's tendering system and execution of infrastructure projects, held at the NMC headquarters on Tuesday. The meeting was attended by deputy mayor Leela Hathibed, standing committee chairperson Shivani Dani Wakhare, ruling party leader Narendra Borkar, municipal commissioner Vipin Itankar, along with senior engineers and contractor association representatives.
Quality Concerns and Inspection Plans
Citing repeated complaints regarding the quality of ongoing civic works, the mayor instructed the administration to appoint reputed independent institutions such as the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay or the College of Engineering Pune (COEP) to inspect works including cement roads, sewerage lines, paver blocks, drainage systems, and other infrastructure projects.
This move is significant as the NMC is currently executing hundreds of crores worth of infrastructure projects, including large-scale cement road construction across the city. Corporators and citizens have repeatedly raised questions over the durability and execution standards of several projects.
Transparency and Accountability Measures
The mayor also pushed for greater transparency in the tendering process and asked the administration to operationalise a "work module" system aimed at digitally tracking projects, approvals, and execution timelines. She further suggested increasing the security deposit amount collected from contractors to ensure accountability and timely completion of works.
Demands for Scrutiny and Penalties
During the meeting, Narendra Borkar recalled that between 2010 and 2017, tenders quoted below estimated rates were subjected to detailed scrutiny by the standing committee. He demanded the revival of similar checks and called for penalties against contractors failing to complete projects within stipulated deadlines.
Quality Labs and Legal Action
Municipal commissioner Vipin Itankar announced that the civic body would appoint a national-level agency for quality inspections and establish a dedicated quality-testing laboratory for civic projects. He also revealed that complaints had surfaced regarding contractors allegedly submitting fake certificates to secure NMC contracts. The commissioner directed officials to immediately register FIRs against such contractors and inform the concerned municipal bodies whose documents were allegedly forged.
Standing committee chairperson Dani Wakhare stressed the need for a transparent and technology-driven tender process to prevent manipulation and improve accountability.
Key Decisions Taken by NMC
- Third-party audit of minimum 10% civic works
- IIT-Bombay or COEP likely to inspect projects
- Quality checks for roads, drains, paver blocks, and gutter lines
- Separate NMC quality-testing lab to be established
- "Work module" system proposed for transparent tender tracking
- Security deposits of contractors may be increased
- FIRs ordered against contractors using fake certificates
- Penalty proposal for delayed civic works under consideration
