Dimapur, April 10 (EMN): In response to the threat of indefinite blockade on National Highway 2 – issued by the Lotha Hoho and the Rengma Hoho – the state government has appealed “all concerned kindly bear with the inconveniences and wait for the tender process to be completed.”
On Monday, the state’s chief engineer of PWD (NH) issued a press release stating the government’s position, and the reasons behind the delay in works of said project.
Full text given below:
In response to the news item captioned “ LH,RH threaten indefinite NH-2 bandh “ and “Lotha Hoho, Rengma Hoho serve ultimatum to State Govt” appearing in the Local papers on 10/04/2017, the undersigned wishes to make the following clarifications:
1. In the first instance, the project “ Widening to 2-Lane from Km 40.00 to Km 72.40 of NH-61 under NH Division Kohima in the State of Nagaland “ was sanctioned by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MORTH) on 18.06.2010 for an amount of Rs. 9368.08 lakhs.
2. Tenders were invited and the work was awarded to M/S Meenakshi Infrastructure Pvt. Ltd.
3. However, a case pertaining to award of works of the project was filed in the Court and the case went through a long process of litigation. Finally the MORTH foreclosed the project on 19.02.2015.
4. Thereafter, the instant project under the nomenclature “Strengthening and widening to 2-lane with paved shoulder of NH-61 from Km 40.00 to Km 72.40 under EPC mode in the State of Nagaland” was sanctioned by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MORTH) on 31.10.2016.
5. The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MORTH) allowed the project to be split into 2 (two) packages.
Package I –From Km 40.00 to Km 56.00
(ii) Package II- From Km 56.00 to Km 72.40.
6. Bids were invited and Technical Bids for both the packages were opened on 20/01/2017.
In regard to Package I, Bids had to be invited 2 (two) times since one Bidder (Out of 2 Bidders) was found to be ‘ non – responsive ’. The tender evaluation is in progress and is likely to be awarded by last part of April.
(ii) In regard to Package II, Letter of Acceptance (LOA) has already been issued on 31.3.2017.
7. The tender process was delayed by 3 (three) weeks due to the State wide ‘Bandh’ in the month of February, 2017.
8. Unlike other contract procurement systems which takes about 1 to 2 months, in the case of Engineering Procurement Contract (EPC) mode adopted for the instant project, it will take a considerable period of time to complete the tendering process. However, once the process is completed, the progress of work will be smooth and will be strictly completed within the stipulated time.
9. While appreciating the problems faced by the general public on account of the poor road condition, and their eagerness to have the construction work started, the Department wishes to appeal to all concerned to kindly bear with the inconveniences and wait for the tender process to be completed.
