The Delhi Jal Board’s tender for removing foam from the Yamuna has come under political scrutiny after Aam Aadmi Party Delhi president Saurabh Bharadwaj alleged that a contractor’s equipment was installed at Kalindi Kunj before the financial bid was opened.
Bharadwaj identified the contractor as Icon Instruments and said its equipment, chemical containers, pumps and labour had been present at the site for two to three days. He questioned how the contractor could have been identified or mobilised before the tendering process was completed.
According to the allegations reported by Millennium Post, a DJB engineer identified as Durgan instructed the company to begin work at the site. Bharadwaj said this raised questions about whether work had started before the financial stage of the procurement process was completed.
The episode concerns the operational response to foam formation in the Yamuna at Kalindi Kunj, a recurring pollution-related issue in the Delhi stretch of the river. The tendering question, however, relates specifically to the sequence of equipment deployment, instructions to the contractor and completion of the DJB’s financial bid process.
Bharadwaj drew parallels with what he described as irregularities in health and road construction projects. He challenged Delhi minister Parvesh Verma, who oversees both the Delhi Jal Board and the Public Works Department, to clarify whether action would be taken in response to the allegations.
The report supplied to Urban Acres does not include a response from the Delhi Jal Board, the department overseeing the tender, the minister or Icon Instruments. It also does not establish whether the equipment’s presence at Kalindi Kunj amounted to authorised preparatory work, whether a work order had been issued, or whether the financial bid had formally been opened at the time of mobilisation. The next step would be an official clarification on the tender timeline, the contractor’s authorisation and the instructions allegedly issued by the DJB engineer.
