Councillors urge Coimbatore Corporation to blacklist errant contractors over substandard works

Councillors cutting across party lines on Tuesday (October 13, 2026) urged the Coimbatore Corporation to blacklist contractors who fail to execute works properly, alleging poor quality in underground drainage (UGD), road, construction and maintenance works.

Raising the issue unanimously at the urgent Council meeting presided over by Mayor K. Ranganayaki, the members said substandard road laying and poorly maintained stormwater drains and other utilities were common. Coimbatore Corporation Commissioner Katta Ravi Teja was present.

They pointed out that many tenders were being awarded at rates below the quoted estimates, and questioned how quality could be ensured at such prices. Citing the death of two contract workers in April, who fell into a sewage pumping station tank during repair work at Saibaba Colony in Ward 69, they said the same contractor had since been given maintenance works. They appealed to the Commissioner to blacklist contractors who failed to deliver.

Mr. Ravi Teja said the Corporation would not compromise on quality even if a tender was bagged at a lower price. In cases of slow or poor work, notices would be issued, penalties imposed and, as a last resort, the contractor blacklisted, he said.

He explained that fresh tenders had been finalised only in a few cases. Most contracts had been extended owing to time constraints until new tenders were floated, and existing contractors would maintain the works in the interim. Blacklisting, he cautioned, could also lead to legal proceedings, which might hold up works in the area concerned.

AIADMK councillors R. Prabhakaran and D. Ramesh staged a symbolic protest, carrying lanterns, over dysfunctional streetlights within the city limits.

At the start of the meeting, the Mayor condemned Congress councillor R. Gayathri (Ward 44) for confronting her in front of media persons while she was entering the Council hall. Ms. Gayathri had been suspended for two meetings by the Mayor at the July meeting over her conduct.

Of the 94 subjects on the agenda, two were not passed. One sought approval for new drinking water connections to eight places of worship in Wards 12 and 25 of the North Zone. The other related to construction of a retaining wall for a canal from Balamurugan Nagar to Ganesh Layout in Wards 19 and 30, at an estimated cost of ₹1.5 crore.