Rs2,300 Crore in Pending Bills Stall Key Projects Across Nagpur Circle
undertaken by the
(PWD) in the Nagpur circle have come to a standstill due to the non-clearance of bills amounting to Rs2,300 crore. The
has claimed that the state government has not cleared bills for the last two years, pushing contractors into severe financial distress."Currently, the
stand at around Rs2,325 crore in the Nagpur circle, comprising Nagpur, Gondia, and Bhandara districts.
Tired of too many ads? go ad free now
Contractors are suffering, as many have taken huge loans to complete these projects. With funds not being released, their debt continues to mount," Subodh Sarode, president of the Nagpur Contractors' Association, told TOI.According to data shared by the association, Nagpur district alone has pending bills amounting to Rs1,525 crore, including Rs1,174 crore related to works on roads, bridges, and road-over-bridges (RoBs) under various categories.
Gondia district has a pendency of Rs501 crore, while Bhandara district's dues stand at Rs298 crore.In February this year, contractors went on a statewide strike over pending payments, following which the government released some funds in March. However, the association claims the release was inadequate. "The government released only about 8% to 10% of the total pending dues, and some contractors haven't received a single rupee. Although we have put the protest on hold, the situation remains grim," Sarode said."Contractors are only working on projects that would suffer further losses if delayed by the rains. While the government continues to approve new projects, it must first clear the old dues. Otherwise, new contractors will also get caught in the same debt trap," he added.TOI attempted to reach PWD's superintending engineer Janardhan Bhanuse, for comment, but he was unavailable. However, several senior PWD officials confirmed that pending bills have affected many projects."The situation is serious. The government must clear the backlog to ensure the timely completion of projects. It should also consider pausing new project approvals until the existing pendency is resolved," said a senior PWD official, adding that even banks involved in the Hybrid Annuity Model (HAM) projects are now exposed to financial risk.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Indian Express
2 minutes ago
- Indian Express
How crackdown on ‘illegal' Bangladeshis fuels fear and anxiety among Bengali workers
'Only Bengalis can truly detect the subtle difference in dialect between the Bengali we speak and the one spoken in Bangladesh,' says Sujeet Banerjee, the vice-president of the Samast Bengali Samaj Association and the owner of a gold-testing business in Ahmedabad. To weed out illegal Bangladeshi migrants who have crossed the border into India and have been living in Gujarat, since May, the local police has been collecting, documenting and verifying the identity papers of thousands of migrant workers engaged in jewellery making at KT Plaza and Sahajanand Complex at Ratanpole in Ahmedabad's Walled City and hundreds of smaller units across the city. These highly skilled workers, aged between 18 and 45 years, have since decades been travelling in excess of over 2,000 km from across West Bengal to work in the Walled City, the nerve centre of the gold market in Ahmedabad. According to the Samast Bengali Samaj Association, a workers' collective, nearly 1.5 lakh Bengali migrants are currently engaged in gold, silver and imitation jewellery making units, besides stone embroidery work in the garment sector in the city. At Ratanpol's Sahajanand Complex, the other major gold jewellery manufacturing unit in the city, around 10,000 workers are employed in its nearly 1,200 units. On the fourth floor of an old building near Ratanpole, up a flight of dingy stairs, nearly 350 Bengali migrants sit in cramped quarters, using blow torches to fashion ornaments out of a costly yellow metal whose price has touched nearly Rs1 lakh per tola (10 grams). Occasional whispers in chaste Bengali can be heard in the dark corridors of this four-storey building, where toy shops occupy the bottom two levels and gold jewellery manufacturing units the top two floors. Business has been slow, say workers, adding that they have not been getting as much work as they usually do, with many shops shuttered and others working at just half their normal capacity due to the rising prices of gold in an industry dominated by artisans from Kalkatta (Kolkata). However, another development has hit work of late. While such verification drives have been held all over Gujarat, in bigger cities like Ahmedabad, Vadodara and Surat, these started in April itself after the April 22 terror attack in Pahalgam. In Ahmedabad, the police launched a massive crackdown in the area around Chandola lake, where 4 lakh square metres of 11 lakh square metres land had been encroached upon for the last several decades. In the operation, which began at 3 am on April 26, the city police detained 890 people. By May 1, only 209 of these 890 people turned out to be Bangladeshis nationals and the rest were released. In later operations, the Crime Branch rounded up 56 more Bangladesh nationals and started their deportation proceedings in coordination with the Gujarat Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS). On August 1, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime Branch) Ajit Rajian told The Indian Express, 'All illegal immigrants were found living in the Chandola lake area itself. Even if they were working in other parts of Ahmedabad, that area alone was viable for them to find accommodations. After the initial drive (on April 26), following which we detained 209 people, 56 people who had fled from Chandola during the demolitions were detained.' Even as the police were cracking down at Chandola lake, KT Plaza received a visit from the police, says a jewellery unit owner. He adds, 'Since they had asked for identification documents for all our workers, the KT Plaza Owners' Association collected the copies of all the Aadhaar cards and voter IDs, and submitted them at the Kalupur police station. The business owners at Sahajanand Complex did the same.' Vishakha Dabral, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Zone 3, confirmed the police reached out to local associations to contact the units that employ migrants. 'Besides verifying their nationalities through various methods, we also put our local intelligence to work. They checked rental accommodations to make sure that all renters had undergone police verification. No illegal immigrants were found at these units.' When the police came knocking, asking for their identification papers, a manager at a jewellery making said the the workers were 'concerned' at first. 'We assured the workers that they won't face any problem. Once the documents were verified, nobody was detained from our units.' Confirming this, inspector H R Vaghela of Kalupur police station says, 'While the Chandola raid was underway, we conducted a verification drive of Bengali migrants in the Walled City. Not a single illegal immigrant was found.' Confirming that Bengali workers had not faced any harassment after the verification drive, Abdul Rauf Yakub Shaikh, the president of the Samast Bengali Samaj Association, says, 'Bhasa main problem hai, jiski wajah se thoda misguide hota hai (the subtle difference in dialects makes identification difficult). The police verification drive has been going on for over a month at both places (Sahajanand Complex and KT Plaza).' To a question on the dawn crackdown at Chandola, the manager at a jewellery making unit adds, 'The matter in Chandola was completely different since Bangladeshis were detained there. But here, in the gold market, that (being a foreigner) is simply not possible since this business runs on trust.' Banerjee of the Samast Bengali Samaj Association agreed with him. 'This is a highly skilled business that takes years to master. So everyone is known and are verified Bengali migrants,' he says. To a question on the living situation of these migrant workers, a local unit owner said, 'While many workers live where they work, in most units, they live elsewhere. The difference between Kolkata and Ahmedabad is that Hindu workers and Muslim workers live in different neighbourhoods. Since many Bengali Hindus also consume meat, we do so in a respectful manner.'
Time of India
3 hours ago
- Time of India
Centre sets deadline of Dec 31 for Nashik Smart City corp to finish pending projects
Nashik: The Union ministry of housing and urban affairs (MoHUA) has issued the Nashik Municipal Smart City Development Corporation Ltd (NMSCDCL) a strict deadline of Dec 31, 2025, to finalize all outstanding projects. The MoHUA recently sent a letter to the NMSCDCL, emphasizing the need to complete these initiatives by the end of the current calendar year. Currently, the NMSCDCL has two major projects, valued at Rs200 crore, that are still pending. These include the augmentation of water treatment plant and a de-silting project which involves building a mechanical gate under the Ahilyabai Holkar bridge — located 300 metres from Ramkund on the Godavari river. NMSCDCL CEO Sumant More confirmed receiving the directive from MoHUA. "Both ongoing projects are on track and are anticipated to be finished well before the deadline," he said. The term of the Smart City Mission ended on March 31 this year. The five-year term of the Smart City Mission was to end in June 2022, but it was extended by the Centre. The NMSCDCL undertook a total of 21 projects amounting to Rs1,122 crore, including Rs175.7 crore for two projects (streetlight and solar panels) undertaken under the PPP model. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like The Most Beautiful Female Athletes Right Now Undo As many as 19 projects worth Rs946.3 crore, which have been completed so far, are funded by the Smart City corporation. On being asked about the delay in the projects, a Smart City corporation official laid down several challenges, including legal issues, delay in obtaining clearances from different departments, land acquisition, challenges in vendor and resource availability in small and medium cities, utilisation of full capacity of Integrated Command and Control Centres (ICCCs) with integration of all municipal departments and agencies, and frequent changing and dropping of projects. Get the latest lifestyle updates on Times of India, along with Friendship Day wishes , messages and quotes !
Time of India
3 hours ago
- Time of India
3.2km Purna bypass line gets railway Board nod for seamless connectivity
Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar: The Railway Board has approved the Purna bypass Line which is set to offer significant benefits to rail operations and regional development in Marathwada. The 3.2-km-bypass line, with a financial outlay of Rs72.3 crore, will allow direct train movement from South India towards North India via Nanded–Purna-Basmat-Hingoli-Washim-Akola, according to the South Central Railway (SCR). "The Purna bypass line will offer seamless train connectivity between north and south India, eliminating the current delay of engine and brake van reversals. It will pave way for more train services by freeing up line capacity and reducing congestion," Rajesh Shinde, public relations officer of the Nanded division of the SCR, said. According to SCR officials, engine reversals at Purna Junction currently cause significant delays, slowing down both freight and passenger trains. "The bypass line will eliminate reversals. In addition, it will increase the average speed of goods trains and improve the punctuality of passenger services. Overall, the line will improve passenger and freight operations," Shinde said. The new bypass rail line, which will come with a new station, is expected to benefit Purna city by encouraging township expansion, creating business opportunities, and strengthening the socio-economic profile of the region. Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like American Investor Warren Buffett Recommends: 5 Books For Turning Your Life Around Blinkist: Warren Buffett's Reading List Undo by Taboola by Taboola According to the SCR, the bypass line will be environmentally sustainable. "The alignment of the new line passes through wetlands with no displacement of people involved. As a linear project, no environmental or social impact assessment is required," Shinde said. The green light for the bypass line project has come close on the heels of the govt recently sanctioning track doubling between Aurangabad and Parbhani stations at the cost of Rs2,719 crore, bringing cheer among rail passenger groups. Get the latest lifestyle updates on Times of India, along with Friendship Day wishes , messages and quotes !
