COMMENTS

Dear Pranav,

In the US and most so called developed countries all public works are tendered, but none of the departments concerned have any caveat saying they must choose the lowest bid cost-wise. Every tender is evaluated as if that was the only offer on hand and the bottomline is that the technology that is being promoted is sound and has been tried and tested (not necessarily in their country, but anywhere in the world).

In fact new technologies are given extra weightage just to encourage people to think out of the box.

I know the answer to that is that we are a poor nation and hence cannot afford to choose the best technology. But that is incorrect, is it not? When thousands of crores of Rupees is being spent on infrastructure, should the objective be to obtain the best technology or should it be to get the cheapest so that the budgetted amount stretches itself to cover kick backs etc?

If you "beat" down a contractor's quoted price to such absurd lengths that it leaves him with a wafer thin margin after he has also covered kick back costs, he will have no choice but to deliver inferior stuff cheating on the material actually being installed. No one is in the business of providing turnkey solutions for the love of one's city / nation. If everyone accepts the fact that the service provider too needs to make his profit and does not question it, half the problem of delivering sub-standard services will be over.

In major / mega contracts abroad, (in some countries only) the contractor is told up front to quote his best price. Then he is cooly told by the authorities to add "x" percent to pay for "party funds". The party funds are paid indirectly by the budgetted amount and the party sees to it that the contractor delivers what quality of work he had originally promised to deliver. This happens quite a bit in Indonesia, Japan, and some of the other S. E. Asian countries - even Malaysia. At the end of the day, people get the best technology for the basic infrastructure project.

There are no cartels of contractors who monopolise contracts depending on their closeness to the officer issuing the contract. There are no "A" , "B" and "C" grade contractors. Everyone is on equal footing!

Once a technology, after thorough evaluation is approved, they let the contrator / inventor / promoter do his job with a free hand. No 'babus' trying to trip you up.

And the best part is that when a contractor / supplier finishes his job and submits his bill, he is paid within one week without his having to go umpteen number of times literally begging to be paid and in the process having to pay for "chai-pani" to N number of clerks handling his bill!

Another point we Indians should look squarely in the face is the fact that we somehow consider opting for a foreign solution as being an insult to Indian Engineers and their capability. Why so? The "sab chalta hai" attitude must give way to efficiency and finishing a job to its last bit. How often have you seen roads being dug up to lay cables or pipes and the guy who does it does not bother to relay what he has dug up? Why are Indian Engineers, who supervise such jobs considered superior, if not equal to foreign engineers who in most cases are ITI passed equivalents? But they deliver, while our IIT returned Engineers merely look the other way!

In the case of SW Drains, BBMP Engineers are simply fed up of the problems they face when it rains heavily and every open drain gets flooded. Just because cl;osed drains are being suggested by a "foreign" company public at large seem to think it is somehow not a method suited to our climate. Actual fact is that closing drains will throw several approved contractors out of their annual job of concreting the open drains and of de-silting the muck! This is admitted by BBMP Engineers themselves.

There are like this N number of issues. No point saying promote better (read International) practices unless there is a political will to do what is right and the citizens stand by that decision.

My two penny worth!

Regards,
Chari

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thanks Chari.

Now, may be we should talk all N small small issues with public work process in a separate post - your last comment can lead it off, and let us spread your experience and some member's theoritical knowledge around to all.

Done - http://praja.in/en/blog/silkboard/2009/11/07/public-works-workings-and-problems

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 Picture 1 - The Block Arrives

  Picture 2 The Block being positioned 

 Picture 3 The Block is Attached at track level 

Picture 4 The Workers on top below track level at a pillar

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Nice pictures PSA sir, the metro bug has caught you also after the recent discussions we had with nate,  biome and others. 

vinod

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Looks like the girders are post-tensioned prestressed concrete just like the Sirsi circle flyover.

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