Road cleaning work to be outsourced in Patna

The road construction department (RCD) is working on a proposal for outsourcing the cleaning work of city roads, footpaths and road dividers.

According to the plan, bids would be invited from private parties to undertake the work on a long-term basis. The bidder would have to clean roads, pavements and road dividers of the city on a regular basis. He would also be responsible for painting of pavements and dividers at least twice a year.

Lighting of roads would be the responsibility of the bidder and costs incurred on lighting too would be paid by him.

Those opting for the bid would have the freedom to earn revenue using their advertisement rights along the roads.

"We have sent a proposal in this regard to the finance department and once it gives approval to it, the proposal would be sent to the cabinet," said a senior RCD official.

To begin with, the project would be launched on a pilot basis in Patna and depending on the feedback, bids would be invited for RCD roads in other cities of Bihar, he said.

Explaining the economics of the proposal, the RCD official said that bidders would be able to earn a lot of revenue against the cleanliness work done by them as they would have at their disposal a huge chunk of land along the roads, which could be used for advertisement purpose.

The department is also working on a plan pertaining to long-term bidding for maintenance of roads being constructed by it.

A World Bank consultant was roped in for preparing the draft of this proposal and senior RCD officials are studying the report to find out its adaptability in local conditions.

"Our main goal is to come up with such a proposal which contains good points of the report submitted by the World Bank consultant as well as the system being followed by the department now under which a contractor is also given the responsibility of maintaining a road for a three-year period," said the RCD official.

He said once the amalgamated form of existing and proposed system is ready, bids would be invited for the long-term maintenance work. "The department would undertake quarterly inspection of roads. Payments would be made to such parties only if inspection reports about the condition of roads would be satisfactory," added the official. link