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The government is now planning to move the Central Vigilance Commission to seek permission to give the project to the second lowest bidder.
The move is prompted by the decision of the DMRC to examine whether or not to blacklist Gammon India Private Limited after the Zamrudpur accident.
More than three months after the showcause notice was served, DMRC has not yet arrived at a decision to blacklist the firm.
“We had served a notice to Gammon asking for reasons why they should not be blacklisted after the incident. They had filed a detailed reply which is being examined by an in-house committee of the DMRC that met last week to discuss the issue. It is a long legal process and will take time,” said director, Projects, Kumar Keshav.
The DMRC, meanwhile, has asked Gammon to continue work on the line.
“The DMRC would not like any other builder to take over the work as it would be very expensive,” said a senior government official.
The government does not want to take the risk of awarding the work to Gammon India Limited after the disastrous accident at Zamrudpur on July 12.
“I cannot comment as the matter is confidential till the time it goes to the Cabinet and a decision is taken,” said Managing Director, DTTDC, Rina Ray.
Sources, meanwhile, have confirmed that the Delhi government has already started seeking permission to allow the second lowest bidder to begin work.
In the tender, which was opened on April 20, the consortium of Gammon India private limited and an Italian firm — Gammon contrutora Cidacle Tensaccial — had bid the lowest at Rs 631.81 crore.
Larson and Toubro's consortium — L&T Archirodon — had quoted merely Rs 8 lakh more than Gammon, standing at Rs 638.62 crore.
The cost of the signature bridge has been escalating ever since it was conceived way back in 2004. The total budget for the six-lane project stands at Rs 980 crore. The project has been broken into two parts, first the approach roads leading to the bridge and the second the Signature Bridge itself.
Gammon India Limited was allotted the Rs 350 crore approach road project six months ago and the work is on at present. It is slated to be completed by 2011.
The Signature Bridge will connect NH-1 on the Yamuna's western bank with Wazirabad Road on its eastern bank.
The superstructure will be a nearly 175 metres tall, bow-shaped pylon with cables. It will have two subways, footpaths and cycle tracks, besides the bridge.
There will be space for a dual, four-lane carriageway (14 m each) with a 1.2-metre-wide central verge; space for anchoring cables, maintenance walkway and crash barriers on either side of the central verge.
The main span will be 251 m and the approach span on either side will be of 36 m. There is also provision for cloverleaves to cater to increased traffic volumes in future.
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Whatever had happened has exposed the working attitude of DMRC and Gammon India. Concerned Gammon India workers are already on bail rather being sent to Jail. Safety should be the prime concern and rest all is secondary. Delhi government has no eyes and ears and its better not to write anything about them.
It is good that Gammon has been black listed for the disaster. It is also necessary to ensure that all repesentatives of DMRC who were associated with Design, Engineering and Construction of the ill fated section of Metro, are sacked. DMRC shd also have a strict Safety Manual/Plan in place, for Metro Construction and implement the Safety Plan thru an Independent Organization specialising in Construction Safety at International level.