Piped drinking water supply to as many as 4,000 rural habitations across the state has been delayed indefinitely owing to standoff between Tamil Nadu Water Supply and Drainage Board (TWAD) and its contractors over finalising the rates.
The contractors, who participated in the bids floated since mid-June, are abstaining from the negotiations with TWAD demanding immediate upward revision of the rates by 25 per cent. Contractor members of TN State TWAD Contractors’ Association have submitted a memorandum in this regard to respective executive engineers in 31 of the 65 TWAD divisions.
The works, costing Rs 500 crore in all, have hit a roadblock as the date of finalising the tenders have lapsed for a few hundred works at least.
The contractors cite steep rise in raw material price, particularly cement, pipes, steel and pump sets, during the last year, the 4.99 per cent price revision this year notwithstanding.
TWAD rates were much less than the schedule of rates of state PWD, association president D.L. Ramesh said.
For instance, TWAD fixed the price of one metre of PVC pipe at Rs 40.50 (2inch) and Rs 78.50 (3 inch), while the PWD pays Rs 77.50 and Rs 117.50, respectively for the same.
Likewise, a standard cement bag and a tonne of steel costs Rs 340 and Rs 55,000-Rs 59,000, respectively, but TWAD has fixed Rs 260 per bag and Rs 48,000 per tonne of steel, Ganesh said. TWAD rule stipulates that sand should be quarried from within 2 km, but the nearest quarry is over 50 km away, the association added.
While the ‘striking’ contractors show no signs of relenting, the executive and superintending engineers, who are only authorised to revise the rates by three and 5 per cent, respectively are awaiting instructions from TWAD.
Piped drinking water supply eludes over a lakh households as contractors are involved in overhead tank construction and laying of main and distribution pipelines to which the households would be linked.