MARGAO
Guess the reasons behind the Margao Municipal Council’s failure to execute the multi-level parking project at the Old Fish Market area behind the Municipal building before 2022. The seven-crore project could not see the light of the day for want of bidders to execute the parking lot.
The situation forced the Margao Municipal Council in May 2022 to transfer the funds to the Goa State Urban Development Agency (GSUDA) to take up the project on behalf of the civic body.
Just guess the status of the multi-level parking project tendered by the Goa State Urban Development Agency (GSUDA) at an estimated cost of Rs 10 crore. Well, GSUDA is yet to kick off the work on the parking lot for the want of bidders to execute the multi-crore project.
Inquiries by The Goan revealed that GSUDA had floated the tender over a month ago, inviting prospective bidders to take up the multi-level parking lot in the commercial capital. According to GSUDA officials, the e-tender had received a lone bid for the project, and as such the agency decided to extend the tender period with the hope of getting more than one bidder for the project.
To the shock and surprise of GSUDA officials, not a single bid was received for the tender in the extended period for a second time. Finding itself in a tight spot, GSUDA has again extended the e-tender period, with senior engineers working for the agency keeping their fingers crossed over the participation of bidders for the project.
“We find ourselves in a tight corner. When the e-tender was first floated, a lone bidder placed a bid for the project. To ensure transparency in the bid process, we decided to extend the e-tender hoping to receive bids from the prospective bidders, but in vain,” informed a GSUDA official.
He added: “We keep our fingers crossed over the e-tender for the multi-parking project for Margao. Assuming no bidder shows interest in the project for the third time, the agency will have to take a call and approach the government to seek directives on whether to give the project to the lone bidder or how to go about the work. We hope that bidders respond to the e-tender and place their bids. Otherwise, we will have to weigh the options.”
Time ticking as parking woes compound
Even as the proposal to set up the city’s first multi-level parking lot hit a roadblock for a host of reasons, the time is ticking for the Margao civic body and the government to address the parking woes plaguing the commercial capital.
The reason is not far to seek. With the vehicular population increasing manifold over the years, the parking space in the city, especially in the heart of the commercial capital, has not kept pace with the growing requirements.
Fears are raised in trade and commerce circles that even if GSUDA finds a prospective bidder to execute the multi-level parking lot, it will take a minimum of two years to complete the project, further aggravating the parking situation in the intervening period.
Indeed questions are being raised in city circles about whether the multi-level parking project would meet the requirements as and when it sees the light of the day given the corresponding rise in the vehicular population.
It is not out of place to mention here that Margao is blessed with three public spaces -- the Old Fish Market, Old Bus Stand and the pick-up stand, unutilised in the heart of the city, which could take care of the future parking requirements.
Tender troubles: How project failed to take off for 9 years
It’s a sheer coincidence that when the e-tender by Goa State Urban Development Agency (GSUDA) to construct the Rs 10 crore multi-level parking project found no bidders, September 15 marked the ninth anniversary of the foundation stone laid by the Margao municipal Council nine years ago to build a multi-level parking lot at the Old Fish Market area.
The foundation stone was laid for the project on September 15, 2015 during the tenure of then Margao Municipal Chairperson Arthur D’Silva. The subsequent council that took over the reins of office tendered the project at a cost of Rs seven crore. A bidder from Kolhapur had qualified for the bid to execute the project but the contractor quit the work after the introduction of the GST regime citing that the GST was not factored in the original bid.
The then council and the subsequent civic dispensations tried to revive the parking project but in vain. Many say prospective bidders stayed away from taking up the project for the reason that the GST rates did not reflect the ground reality, given the rising cost of cement and steel.
These and other factors had prompted the city fathers to hand over the project to GSUDA for execution, hoping that the agency would find prospective bidders to execute the project, but in vain.
