Karur Corporation has not yet issued work orders for sanitation, school-cleaning and dengue-control contracts that were awarded at bids substantially below the civic body’s estimates, delaying the transition to new contractors despite the tenders receiving council approval, according to a report by Dinamalar.
The contracts were floated through e-tenders during August and September for cleaning work across the corporation’s four zones. The estimated value of the three sets of contracts was Rs 5.06 crore. This included Rs 1.83 crore for ward sanitation work for five months, Rs 1.83 crore for cleaning government schools for 10 months, and Rs 1.40 crore for dengue-control work for six months.
According to the report, contractors quoted 25.99% below the estimate for ward sanitation work and 31.98% below the estimate for school-cleaning and dengue-control services. The lower bids are reported to have produced a direct saving of Rs 1.51 crore for the civic body.
The tenders were approved at a corporation councillors’ meeting held on the 28th, but work orders had not been issued to the successful contractors at the time of the report. Contractors alleged that the delay was linked to the pending signature of Mayor Kavitha, who is associated with the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, on the resolution register.
The contractors claimed that the e-tender process had increased competition and reduced the cost of municipal services. They also alleged that the existing contractors continued to carry out the work because the new agencies had not received work orders. According to their account, this could result in avoidable expenditure for the corporation and prevent the civic body from realising the savings reflected in the new bids.
The contractors further contrasted the current tender outcome with earlier contracts, claiming that bids in previous tenders had been only 0.03% below the estimates before work was awarded to preferred agencies. These claims were reported by Dinamalar and were not independently verified in the supplied material.
Mayor Kavitha denied that the delay was connected to the tender process. Speaking to Dinamalar, she said she had not visited the corporation office for 10 days because of ill health and therefore had not signed the resolution register. The report did not include a separate response from corporation officials on the status of the work orders, the continued engagement of the existing contractors or the expected date of implementation.
The contracts cover routine services that directly affect street cleanliness, hygiene in government schools and dengue-control operations across Karur’s four municipal zones. The next formal step is the signing of the council resolution and issuance of work orders to the successful contractors, after which the corporation can begin implementing the newly awarded contracts.
