MARGAO
Guess how much tax payers money would now go into the construction of the long-delayed multi-level parking lot at Margao as a depository work for the Margao Municipal Council?
A whopping Rs 10.89 crore to be precise, if the latest estimate worked out by the GSUDA consultant is any indication, as the saga over the long-delayed parking project has come back to haunt the Margao Municipality and the stakeholders.
For, when the foundation stone for the parking project was first laid in the year 2015, officials of the Margao Municipality had claimed the project would cost the civic body around Rs 5-odd crore. After delays, the MMC had finally tendered the project at an estimated cost of Rs 7.55 crore, but the project could not take off since there were no takers.
And, now after the MMC handed over the project to the GSUDA for execution, the latest estimate worked out by the agency-appointed consultant is a whooping Rs 10.89 crore, indicating the huge cost overruns due to the delays in executing the project since the last eight years.
A glance at the official note shows that the MMC had initiated the project under the Golden Jubilee Grants received as part of Goa’s Liberation Day celebration over a decade ago. After the MMC resolved to utilise the Rs 3 lakh Golden Jubilee grants to fund the parking project, the foundation stone was laid in 2015. When the project was first tendered over half a decade ago, an outstation contractor had bagged the contract, but the contractor backed out after the GST regime came into force.
Although the MMC has later re-tendered the work after factoring the GST calculations, the civic body was unable to finalise a contractor for want of takers for the project and hence could not submit an utilisation certificate to the Department of Art of Culture on the utilisation of the Golden Jubilee funds.
After the project hit a roadblock for want of contractors, the MMC finally decided to handover the project to GSUDA for execution. As a first step, the civic body transferred an amount of Rs 5.59 crore to GSUDA, which later appointed M/s Growever Infra Pvt Ltd as the project consultant at 3.09 per cent of the total cost of the project. The consultant has now reworked the estimate as per the latest GSR 2023. The latest estimate works around Rs 10,89,23,551. The project is awaiting nod from the Department of Urban Development to accord Revised Administrative Approval.
The overall estimated cost of the proposal amounting to Rs 10,89,23,551 including 3 per cent, contingencies, 18% GST, 3.09% consultancy fees and 18% GST on consultancy.
