KOLKATA, 27 DEC: The desilting and strengthening of underground sewers with glass-reinforced polymer pipes (GRP) in south and north Kolkata is a distant dream and is not possible before September next year, senior civic officials feel. 

The Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) has floated a global tender to find out a firm after it cancelled the contract of APS Michigan as it failed to do the job. The tender process is on and the last date of submitting tender is 10 January.  

Though the civic authorities have fixed the target of scrutinising the tender documents and select the lowest tenderer by 15 February, 2011 senior civic officials said past experiences have taught them that time frames are never maintained in KMC. 

They maintained that the civic authorities take more than a month to scrutinise tender documents and select the firm. Once the firm is selected it will be given time to deposit security deposit after which work order is issued. The firm takes over a month to mobilise men and machinery and then start work. By the time the firm is ready, monsoon will set in and work in full swing can start only after August-September. “One has to understand the practical situation before fixing a deadline,” said senior civic officials. The work will be carried out on Ashutosh Mukherjee Road in south Kolkata and Beadon Street in the north.

Meanwhile, keeping unused liners have posed a serious threat to KMC. The liners were dumped opposite Science City in front of Milan Mela ground but they have to be removed following pressure from the city police. They are now kept at various KMC parks.  KMC officials said it would be difficult for them to find out areas to keep the fresh liners which will be used to strengthen the underground sewer lines.