HYDERABAD: With tough conditions incorporated in the tender notification – seeking designs for merger of Greenlands flyover and Begumpet rail over bridge (ROB) – no consultant is coming forward to take up the work.

Due to delay in merger of the flyover and the existing bridge, motorists, especially those from Secunderabad have been facing problems on Greenlands flyover.

As there was no response to the first tender notification, which ended on April 1, the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) has called for tenders again a couple of days ago for which April 20 is the last date.

“Consultancies are not showing interest as preparation of designs for railway bridges needs experience in the field. Similarly, getting approval from railway authorities is a tough task and time-consuming as the consultancies have to give clarifications to the railway authorities if they seek so,” a senior GHMC official said.

Though the newly-constructed Greenlands flyover was thrown open for traffic a year ago, the footpath between the new flyover and existing bridge is posing danger to motorists apart from causing traffic jams during peak hours. Several accidents have happened at the footpath. The then chief minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy had directed the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) to workout a solution to remove a footpath for smooth flow of traffic on the bridge.

South Central Railway authorities have been opposing GHMC’s proposal to merge the two bridges by removing the footpath portion of the old bridge as they fear it might weaken the bridge. When the civic official insisted, the SCR authorities agreed to consider the proposal only if a consultant gives designs and get them approved by reputed institutes like IITs.

Since railways insisted on new design and design approvals from IIT, Delhi, the corporation sought help of structural engineer Mahesh Tandon, who is also managing director of Tandon Consultancy.

But Mahesh Tandon initially asked a written letter from the corporation as he reportedly faced problems for his consultancy work for Muslimjung bridge restoration. While the GHMC was taking necessary approvals from the state government and with reports that Tandon provided faulty designs that caused a mishap at Delhi metro rail works, the GHMC decided to keep him away from the consultancy work.

Then, the corporation launched a search for a new consultant and approached some persons. But it could not go ahead due to elections to the municipal corporation and election code for nearly four months. After new commissioner took over, he preferred to call for tenders instead of giving it to a consultant on nomination basis.

When contacted, GHMC engineer-in-chief P Panduranga Rao said there was a delay in merger work of Greenlands flyover and there was no response from bidders for the first tender notification. “We hope consultants will respond to the second tender notification,” he added.

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/hyderabad/No-takers-for-Greenlands-flyover-works/articleshow/5814488.cms