CHENNAI: The government is expected to roll out Rs 6,500 crore smart city projects in the next six weeks across all the 12 corporations, in what is seen by some as an opportunity to speed up the projects.The move comes after the ministry of housing and urban affairs (MoHUA) asked cities to issue work orders before the model code of conduct in relation to the upcoming general election kicks in. Election schedule is widely expected to be announced in the first week of March.As per a report submitted to the Mo-HUA by the state on January 11, Chennai alone has Rs 552 crore projects that include construction of missing link storm water drains, setting up of water meters and skywalk between T Nagar bus terminus and Mambalam railway station — at various stages of tender.Projects worth ?339 crore, which include restoration of water bodies, construction of multi-level car parking and a pedestrian plaza in T Nagar are at various stages of execution. So far, Chennai corporation has completed only 3% of projects worthRs 28 crore. Now, it has called for tenders for projects worth ?528 crore which might open between January 20 and February 11. Projects worth ?45 crore are at draft project report stage.While Coimbatore has Rs 550 crore projects to be executed, Madurai has Rs 590 crore.According to rules, projects below Rs 2 crore require 15 days of notification before bids are opened. Work orders are issued within a week after bids open. For projects above Rs 2 crore, 30 days notification period is given after which a financial bid is called. It takes between seven and 15 days after which a resolution is passed in the council and the corporation commissioner signs the work order. This process takes at least 3 days. So, the tender process will take take 20-40 days to complete even if paper work is reduced. Now, the civic body has just 42 days left.When asked why there was such delay in these projects, officials said it was only in mid-2017 that the work on these projects began. The death of former CM J Jayalalithaa and cyclone Vardah added to the delay. The projects under execution are progressing slow due to lack of coordination among various departments and red tape.Meanwhile, activists showed concern over such hurry in tender processes. “Calling tenders and issuing work orders in a hurry may lead to irregularities,” said NGO Arappor Iyakkam’s Jayaram Venkatesan.But, some saw this as an opportunity to speed up the pending projects. Nashwa Naushad , associate of ITDP, organisation that works on street redesign projects, said, “This short timeline could also be an opportunity for the city to complete some of the projects that have been in the pipeline for a while now.”

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