3 years after deadline, MC to issue tender for office building

The Local Government Department has sanctioned permissions to the Panchkula Municipal Corporation to issue a tender to complete the construction work of its new office building, which has remained incomplete for years.

The MC is set to issue a tender for the pending part of the project, estimated to cost Rs 17 crore. The MC’s workforce is divided at three offices — Sector 4, 12A and Sector 14.

Due to this, people are often forced to visit different branches of the corporation. The MC had started the construction of a new office building at Sector 3 at a cost of Rs 29.49 crore in December 2019. The project was set to be completed in April 2021.

However, before the completion, the corporation and the contractor got involved in a dispute over tender condition violations, after which the latter sublet a part of the work to another agency.

After considerable delay, the contract between the MC and the company was terminated and the firm was held liable to pay damages of Rs 2.94 crore, along with a 20 per cent penalty for the incomplete work.

The MC also forfeited its bank guarantee of Rs 1.47 crore, after which the company went to court. The court directed the MC to get the work done at the company’s risk and cost. The MC invited fresh e-tenders for the execution of the pending works, but as the court had restricted it to finalising the bids only, the company again went to court over the same.

As a result, the tender process remained inconclusive. In an oral order issued by a Bench of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, it said the contract among the MC and the firm envisaged an arbitration agreement, and redirected the pending disputes including the issue of debarment and risk and cost of the company for the completion of the pending work to the arbitration court.

It also allowed the corporation to raise construction of the MC building either through the existing tender, by issuing a corrigendum or by inviting fresh tenders.

Now, the state Local Government Department has allowed the MC to issue a new tender for the pending work by removing the conditions of risk and cost of the company.

MC Mayor Kulbhushan Goyal said the MC would issue a tender for the process within a day or two.