BMC

This is not acceptable. Ms KK Carrier tried to cheat the BMC and was blacklisted (in 2009). In addition to that, the firm is owned by the wife of another blacklisted contractor. How can the BMC allow it to bid? Aslam Sheikh, Congress legislator

Topiwala Municipal Market

Goregaon-Mulund Link Road

GMLR project

Mother’s firm barred

Wife’s firm allowed

Whilehas not allowed mothers of blacklisted contractors to bid for fresh contracts, the same rule does not seem to hold true for wives.A new family drama of sorts is brewing in the BMC. While the BMC is not allowing mothers of blacklisted contractors to bid for fresh contracts, wives of such contractors have been able to bid for new contracts. In what critics are calling a municipal family welfare programme for contractors, the BMC last week shortlisted a company owned by the wife of a blacklisted contractor for a Rs 25-crore job involving mechanical sweeping of Western and Eastern Express Highways. But just last month, a firm owned by a mother of a contractor blacklisted in the roads scam in 2016 was barred from bidding for two new BMC projects.Mumbai Mirror had last week reported that Ms KK Carrier was allowed to submit bids without worrying about its controversial background. Mirror had last month published two reports on the BMC’s flawed policy which allowed the relatives, who are appointed as company directors, to bid.Ms KK Carrier and Ms Kaviraj MBB Waste Management Pvt Ltd, which have struck a joint venture, were named among the shortlisted firms for the mechanical road sweeping contract last week. According to the documents with the civic body, Ms KK Carrier is a proprietary firm of Laxmidevi Jain, wife of Jamnalal Jain whose company Ms Shree Kaviraj Infratech has been barred from BMC contracts for seven years over the 2016 desilting scam. Ms KK Carrier itself was blacklisted for a year by the solid waste management department in 2009 for fabricating slips at BMC-operated weighbridges.“This is not acceptable. Ms KK Carrier tried to cheat the BMC and was blacklisted (in 2009). In addition to that, the firm is owned by the wife of another blacklisted contractor. How can the BMC allow it to bid?” said Congress legislator Aslam Shaikh.While Ms KK Carrier was allowed to bid following a go-ahead from the municipal chief, in another instance a firm called Ms Relcon Infraprojects Ltd was blacklisted for the roads scam in November 2016. Earlier, an FIR was also registered against its directors Rakesh Shah and Dipan Shah by the BMC for cheating and fraud in April 2016.Last year, when the BMC floated two tenders – one for redevelopment of theworth around Rs 122 crore, and the other worth Rs 60 crore for widening of the Nahur stretch of the– a firm Ms Sunrise Stone Industries (SSI), one of the directors of which is the mother of two directors of Relcon, was shortlisted. After being barred from bidding for the, SSI also bid for a contract to redevelop the Topiwala Municipal Market. But officials said that the firm has been barred due to its controversial background.The BMC’s Solid Waste Management (SWM) department, led by additional municipal commissioner Vijay Singhal, is facing flak over the awarding of the contracts.----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Kamakshi Shah is one of the directors of Ms Sunrise Stone Industries (SSI). She is the mother of two directors of Ms Relcon Infraprojects Ltd, Dipan and Rakesh Shah which was blacklisted in the 2016 roads scam. Barred from bidding for a contract for widening of the Nahur stretch of the Goregaon-Mulund Link Road and ousted for a contract worth Rs 122 crore for redevelopment of Topiwala Municipal Market.Ms KK Carrier is a proprietary firm of Laxmidevi Jain, the wife of Jamnalal Jain whose company, Ms Shree Kaviraj Infratech, has been barred from civicwork contracts for seven years over the 2016 desilting scam. Allowed to bid for Rs 25-crore task involving mechanical sweeping of Western and Eastern Express Highways.