The contractors of Public Works Department (PWD) in Dakshina Kannada and Udupi district have urged the Government to clear their pending bills.

Addressing presspersons here on Friday, Radhakrishna Nayak, President of Dakshina Kannada District PWD Contractors’ Association, said that bills worth Rs 53 crore were pending with the Government till February-end for payment to contractors. This amount is likely to go up to Rs 75 crore by the end of the current financial year.

Shivarama Shetty, President of the Udupi association, said that bills worth Rs 69 crore are pending for payment to contractors in his district.

Stating that the delay in payment is affecting the works of contractors in both the districts, Nayak said that the contractors are planning to stop their work, if the Government fails to clear their dues in a week.

He said that pending cases are more in Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts compared to other districts in the state. Some of these bills include works done in 2011-12 also.

Most of the bills are pending in road, bridge and other infrastructure works. He said that the contractors, who have taken up such works from zilla panchayats and State Highway projects, are not facing such a problem.

Though the Government’s e-procurement policy had a clause of payment of bills in 60 days of completion of work, that has been removed now, he said.

Shetty said that the contractors have invested heavily on machineries and labour. They cannot keep them idle for long. If the situation continues like this, it will affect them severely, he added.

>vinayak.aj@thehindu.co.in

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