Mumbai: With no contractor yet finalised for Mithi river’s desilting, which takes up to 90 days, the civic administration is now considering bids from even relatively inexperienced contractors, mayor Ritu Tawde said on Friday. An official said BMC has decided to drop the condition that bids from only experienced contractors with specific machinery will be accepted. Standing committee chairman Prabhakar Shinde said the civic administration has been asked to prepare a backup plan in case no firm comes forward by March 17, the new deadline for bid submission. “In such a scenario, BMC has been directed to carry out desilting using its own machinery and workforce to ensure the pre-monsoon schedule is not delayed,” said Tawde. She said BMC officials will closely monitor the work’s progress. Civic officials have reached out to contractors they know but haven’t got any favourable response yet. —Richa Pinto
