SC pulls up MCD for delay in Gazipur abattoir project

The Supreme Court has fumed over the fact that the proposed slaughter house at Gazipur in east Delhi has failed to meet the deadline, yet again, and asked the MCD why it should not be penalised for its "failure". The court lost its cool when the civic agency informed the court that the project may not get operationalised by the end of this month, as directed earlier. "Tell us why we should not impose the cost on you (MCD) for not completing the work. You will have to bear the cost and you have to compensate for their (private contractors) loss due to delay in the project," a Bench headed by Justice Ashok Bhan said, pulling up the MCD. When the ASG Amrendra Sharan submitted that the project got delayed due to the contractor, the Bench said "It is a failure on your part (MCD) and not on the part of the contractor." "You (MCD) had assured us that you would complete the work but you failed. All three of us have the same opinion. We do not agree with your contention that you have done your part," said the Bench, also comprising Justices S B Sinha and A K Mathur, directing the CPWD chief engineer to visit the site on Friday and file a report. The ASG claimed they (contractor) have not done their work. Doors have still not been fixed and windows were installed just two days back. They have also not taken proper sanction for a power connection, he said. The contractor, on the other hand, blamed the MCD for the delay in the project and said that water and electricity connections had still not been provided by the MCD. "It's not a blame game. It's not good and it should not go on like this. You have to co-operate with each other," the Bench warned both the MCD and the contractor. The Court had earlier revised the cost of the project and fixed it at Rs 123.26 crore for the much-delayed project. The construction work on the abattoir, which was to be completed by June 2006, was hit in 2004 when MCD abruptly decided to increase its animal-handling capacity from 2,500 per day to 5,000 per day allegedly without an upward revision of the earlier estimated project cost of Rs 65 crore. Later, an MCD-appointed expert committee fixed the revised cost of Rs 106.26 crore but it was disputed by the contractor, Food Processing Equipments Company Ltd (FPECL), seeking Rs 150 crore for the project. The contractor had expressed his difficulty in completing the work in Rs 113.26 fixed by the IL&FS and later the apex court asked the MCD to pay an additional Rs 13 crore to the FPECL.

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