Border Bunkers | ‘Poor response’ from contractors delays construction

The central government’s project of construction of safety bunkers for the civil populace along the Line of Control has failed to achieve the required pace due to poor interest shown by contractors during tendering process.

As per details available with Greater Kashmir, unionministry of home affairs, sanctioned 2806 individual bunkers and 335 communitybunkers for Rajouri district and the public works (roads and building)department of the Jammu and Kashmir government was appointed as the nodalagency to execute the project by notifying the tenders for each district.

   

The department in Rajouri district notified tenders for allthe sanctioned bunkers, but the contractors applied for only 976 out of the2806 individual bunkers and 158 out of 335 community bunkers, sources said.

They added that the contractors from both district level aswell as state level cited multiple reasons for not applying. “The reasons includedlesser sanctioned amount per unit as well as hilly terrains, where the bunkersare to be constructed,” sources said, adding, “Some contractors refused toapply citing risk of life for them and their labourers due to the ongoingborder skirmishes.”

Details revealed that so far, 23 individual bunkers and 3community bunkers in Rajouri district have been completed, while work on aroundtwo dozen bunkers is scheduled to get completed within the next few days.

Highly-placed sources said, “The authorities have alsoshifted the project from the public works (roads and buildings) department tothe rural development department for the construction of a majority of thealready sanctioned bunkers, as even after the PWD (R&B) notified tenderseleven times, the contractors did not showcase good response.”

Assistant commissioner development, Rajouri, Akhtar HussainQazi told Greater Kashmir, “After no response from contractors towards tendersof 1830 individual bunkers and 177 community bunkers, the work of all thesebunkers has now been shifted to rural development department. Work on these hasbeen started as well.”

“Recently, the authorities took the decision to shiftthe remaining part of the project to rural development department and we havetaken over the work,” the ACD said.

When asked about the procedure with which department willcarry out construction work, officer said, “In the first phase, we areallotting work to any local villager who is interested in executing it. If noone comes up, the department will itself take up the work as the project isvital.”

On being contacted, district development commissioner,Rajouri, Mohammad Aijaz Asad, said, “After poor response from contractorstowards the project, we decided to hand over the work to rural development department.”

He added that work is now going on at full pace and theadministration is “certain that the bunkers will be constructed in the next fewmonths”.

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