THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: It has been two years since the Kerala Shipping and Inland Navigation Corporation (KSINC) announced the purchase of a weed harvester to clear the state’s inland waterways.But the project failed to make any headway after the tender, through which the Corporation procured an allegedly sub-standard machine offered by a Kottayam-based manufacturer, which was later cancelled. And the Corporation’s second bid to purchase the machine too seems to be heading in for troubles.The KSINC went for a fresh bidding in mid-2011 and surprisingly the potential bidders included the previous winner. Though the last date for submitting the tenders ended in July 2011, the bids are yet to be opened as the Corporation is waiting for a clearance from the State Government.“The bids will be opened once we get a green signal from the government,” said KSINC company secretary V K Raju, adding that there was nothing unusual in including the previous ‘winner’ in the new bidding.“They were not involved in any malpractice though the machine had some faults. The fresh tenders were invited with clear specifications on the product and such a problem would not arise again,” he added."The previous winner was selected as their price were very low. Moreover, the two other bidders quoted to supply foreign machines for which local purchase of spare parts would be difficult,” Raju said.Interestingly, a couple of weed harvesters currently in use in the state are foreign makes, including those used for works under the Kuttanad Package. Those who attended the new bidding allege that the Corporation is deliberately trying to delay the proceedings to favour the previous ‘winner’.“One bidder has already asked the Corporation to return the EMD. We fear there is a collective effort on behalf of the officials to retain the previous winner,” a bidder said on condition of anonymity.The controversy erupted first after the KSINC purchased a sub-standard product allegedly in a murky deal. The Rs 50 lakh worth deal had to be abandoned after some officials designated to examine the machine found the weed harvester a failure in many ways.It is learnt that overheating, imbalance and an incorrect hydraulic system were pointed out as the main drawbacks of the machine.However, it is said that some top officials of the Corporation initially asked the manufacturer to rework the machine. But the move was later abandoned following the intervention of the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO). And the CMO sought a report from the Water Resources Department on the issue.Following this, the Corporation asked the company, that won the tender and handed over the machine, to return the 30-per cent advance money allotted to them.
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