Coimbatore: Contractors, who have undertaken civic projects, have stopped work because they are yet to get payment from the corporation for works that have been completed. With the civic body coffers having gone dry, payments worth more than 20 crore have been delayed for more than six months.
One particular contractor said his dues worth 6 crore, has been delayed for more than six months. With an eye on the civic body polls that is likely to be announced in September, ward councillors said they were in a fix, as none of the contractors were willing to start work on pending projects unless their payments were cleared.
"Whenever residents have grievances, they hold us responsible. With the polls approaching, we are worried the situation could get worse. We have asked the corporation to release payments as soon as possible to ensure work gets carried out," said S Balan, AIADMK councillor of Ward 63.
P V Subramanian, DMK ward councillor said that most of the projects in his ward have been sanctioned but work has not started. "I call up the engineers every day but they give me various excuses for delaying the work," he said.
S M Samy, another DMK councillor said only if they resorted to protests, work gets done. However, in some wards, councillors said that work was in progress. "After the model code of conduct was withdrawn, road and drain work began in my ward. The contractors in my ward are big players. Payment delays don't affect them much," said T J Selvakumar, AIADMK ward councillor.
While major projects could not be undertaken until the state government funds are released, they were focusing on civic works such as roads, drains, toilet construction, water supply projects and other works.
One corporation contractor said he has been losing close to 6 lakh every month as he had taken loans on high interest rates to complete corporation projects. "Most of us take loans from outside and when payments get delayed, we face huge losses. Our profits go down by 2 to 5%," he said.
Another corporation contractor said he has been undertaking civic body projects for over 25 years and this is the first time that so many payments have been delayed. "Earlier, they were some delays but there was no serious funds crunch," he said.
While some officials said dues would be settled by the first week of June, another official said only after the state government budget, the situation would improve.
One particular contractor said his dues worth 6 crore, has been delayed for more than six months. With an eye on the civic body polls that is likely to be announced in September, ward councillors said they were in a fix, as none of the contractors were willing to start work on pending projects unless their payments were cleared.
"Whenever residents have grievances, they hold us responsible. With the polls approaching, we are worried the situation could get worse. We have asked the corporation to release payments as soon as possible to ensure work gets carried out," said S Balan, AIADMK councillor of Ward 63.
P V Subramanian, DMK ward councillor said that most of the projects in his ward have been sanctioned but work has not started. "I call up the engineers every day but they give me various excuses for delaying the work," he said.
S M Samy, another DMK councillor said only if they resorted to protests, work gets done. However, in some wards, councillors said that work was in progress. "After the model code of conduct was withdrawn, road and drain work began in my ward. The contractors in my ward are big players. Payment delays don't affect them much," said T J Selvakumar, AIADMK ward councillor.
While major projects could not be undertaken until the state government funds are released, they were focusing on civic works such as roads, drains, toilet construction, water supply projects and other works.
One corporation contractor said he has been losing close to 6 lakh every month as he had taken loans on high interest rates to complete corporation projects. "Most of us take loans from outside and when payments get delayed, we face huge losses. Our profits go down by 2 to 5%," he said.
Another corporation contractor said he has been undertaking civic body projects for over 25 years and this is the first time that so many payments have been delayed. "Earlier, they were some delays but there was no serious funds crunch," he said.
While some officials said dues would be settled by the first week of June, another official said only after the state government budget, the situation would improve.