Tribune press service

Sandeep Rana

Chandigarh, January 31

The process of bidding farewell to Lion Services Limited for its current contract for GIS-based mechanized and manual sweeping of southern roads has finally begun as the local municipality issued a tender to agencies today interested.

The current contract expires on March 31. Interested parties were invited to download the Request for Proposals (RFP) document from the online tender portal and submit their bids by February 21.

The civic body has faced criticism for continuing with the business to which it pays around Rs 4.70 crore per month for road sweeping in the southern sectors. The tender is being launched in a bid to cut costs and improve service in the city, which slipped to 66th position in the Swachhta ranking in a nationwide survey.

The call for tenders for roads is intended for sectors 31 to 63. If the community obtains a good response for the works, a mechanized sweeping can be envisaged for the whole city.

This was a major political issue during the MC ballot. Last October, the company had to renew Lion Services’ remediation contract until March 31, after officials failed to issue a call for tenders on time.

The House had ordered a high-level investigation into “the deliberate delay in the bidding”.

Current contract expires March 31

The current contract expires on March 31. Interested parties were invited to download the Request for Proposals (RFP) document from the online tender portal and submit their bids by February 21.