File pic: Devastation left behind by Cyclone Thane in December, 2011
The Madras High Court has observed that the manner in which road repair works in Cylone Thane-hit Villupuram district had been split up and awarded to a small group of contractors did not satisfy the laid down procedure and appeared to be wholly illogical.
Directing the Tamil Nadu Government to take note of its observations, the First Bench comprising Chief Justice M Y Eqbal and Justice T S Sivagnanam said from a perusal of the pattern of allocation adopted for awarding the 106 works to 12 contractors, we fail to understand as to how the work could have been completed expeditiously."
The observations were made when a petition by one V Devagi, a registered contractor with Highways Department, challenging dismissal of her petition by a single judge, came up before the bench.
She had originally sought a direction to the authorities concerned to allot/award works for laying repairing of roads, restoration of road infrastructure facilities from the funds allotted by the Revenue Administration, Disaster Management and Mitigation Department, by inviting tenders as per the Tamil Nadu Transparency in Tenders Act.
During the hearing, the appellant's counsel claimed his client was not aggrieved about not being awarded the contract, but more concerned about the manner in which the works had been allotted. She alleged serious irregularities in award of the contracts.
The state Advocate-General said the tenders were so divided to ensure their completion within the shortest possible time.
In the order, the two-judge bench said if the 106 works were allotted to 106 contractors and each had commenced the work at the same time, the allocation of contracts would have been justified. But the works had been awarded to 12 contractors. Therefore, the department's contention that the work was divided into 106 tenders to expedite the temporary restoration of roads defied logic, the Bench said adding since the works had already been completed, it was not dwelling further on the aspect.
A court appointed committee to survey the entire road and the quality of work in its report found the overall condition of most of the sections could be rated 'good to fair'.
Noting that the quality control test had, however, not been undertaken, the Bench said "this appears to be a serious lapse and the government should take appropriate action.
The committee's recommendation for future tenders should be seriously considered, the bench said.