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Following up on an RTI query which had revealed that the BMC had only levied a fine of Rs 5000, Advocate Godfrey Pimenta’s second RTI regarding the same matter, has now revealed that out of the Rs 87 crore contract cost of the whole project of the Gopal Krishna Gokhale Bridge, an amount of Rs 7.78 crore has been withheld by the civic body. The BMC claims that a fine of Rs 3.56 crore will be levied.

What happened

The Gokhale bridge’s completion had been delayed by two years due to a misalignment with the CD Barfiwala flyover, which left an almost 2-metre-wide horizontal and vertical gap between the bridges. This delayed the opening of the bridge to 2025. The bridge had been closed in 2022.

The misalignment after construction of Gokhale bridge. FILE PIC

‘Details withheld’

In the second response that Pimenta received, information regarding a document supposed to be attached with the RTI response has been withheld, Pimenta claims. “This seems to have been done deliberately,” he said.

Advocate Speak

Advocate Godfrey Pimenta, who had raised the question about the fines, earlier told mid-day, “It was concerning that only Rs 5000 had been imposed so far… it set a very bad precedent to contractors who are related to future projects. The money which has been withheld is a part of the ‘retention money’ as part of the contract doesn’t directly signify that it is a penalty imposed on the contractor. Usually, the penalty is taken out of the retention money, but BMC has not clarified if any amount has been taken out of the retention money,” Pimenta said.

Official Speak

Additional Municipal Commissioner (Projects) Abhijit Bangar responded to mid-day’s queries, saying, “The total penalty imposed on the contractor of the Gokhale bridge project is of Rs 3.56 crore. The final bill with respect to the project is in process.”

Project details Cost: Rs 87 cr
Year of closure: 2022
Year of  opening: 2025