BMC ‘puts on hold’ contract to install sanitary pad machines | Mumbai News – Times of India

MUMBAI: Following a meeting with Shiv Sena (UBT) MLC Anil Parab after he moved a breach of privilege motion on the issue against BMC chief Iqbal Chahal in the legislature’s monsoon session, BMC on Thursday, said the UBT neta, put on hold its Rs 42 crore contract for installing 5,000 sanitary pad vending machines in public toilets.

Parab said Chahal has assured him no further work orders would be issued till a satisfactory technical report on the performance of the 200 machines already installed is received and the BMC would not go ahead with the 5,000-machine contract. He however demanded total scrapping of the contract and alleged that even the 200 machines installed are not working.
“The installation has not been done as per specifications. None of the machines have exhaust pipes and toilets will be filled with smoke when pads are incinerated. The machines are rotting in the rain, and no new electric wiring has been done. Let the BMC conduct inspection of all 200 locations where the machines have been installed. They will have no option but to scrap the contract and issue a show-cause notice to the company. No payment must be released to the company and it must be penalised for shoddy work,” he said.
Parab had earlier said that despite the assurances given to him during the budget session of the state legislature, the contract hadn’t been scrapped and Chahal had not given him time for an official meeting on the issue despite reminders.
He had alleged that the BMC had awarded contracts to install 5,000 sanitary pad vending machines at 5,000 locations along with incinerators when there were not even 5,000 ladies toilets in Mumbai.
According to him, the machines which come with a built-in incineration machine were available for just Rs 40,000 on the centre’s Government e Marketplace (GeM) portal, while the BMC was buying them for over Rs 76,000 per unit. He further said all three companies who had bid were registered in Delhi, and this was their first contract in the BMC. “Out of three, Ms Realzest Vendcon was picked. None of the machines installed is working as the contract for pads is not yet finalised and even the cost of the pads has not been fixed. Most machines are defunct,” he claimed.
Following Parab’s privilege motion, deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis had announced that the BMC’s contract had been truncated to a pilot project of just 200 machines.