Tender for Chennai Command and Control Centre under smart city initiative sparks row

C Shivakumar @ CHENNAI:

The tender to implement and manage Command and Control Center (CCC), one of the core initiatives under the Chennai Smart City, sparked a row after Larsen and Toubro alleged discrepancies by Tender Evaluation Authority stating that Tamil Nadu Tender Transparency Act was not followed.

After the Letter of Award has been placed on Keltron, Larsen and Toubro has alleged that TN Tenders still show the status of financial evaluation and award of contract still in progress.

“The Tender Evaluation Authority did not follow the Tamil Nadu Tender Transparency Act by not mentioning the Letter of award to Keltron to other bidders without declaring the technical scores of the qualified bidders,” Larsen and Toubro has alleged.

Interestingly, state government officials said that the website now has all the details pertaining to bids and rejected the allegations of Larsen and Toubro. “The tender was awarded as per Tender Transparency Act. Larsen and Toubro has quoted more than 100 per cent of what Keltron has quoted as such they would not have got the tender,” the official on condition of anonymity stated.

It is learnt that Larsen and Toubro has written letters to various departments in both Centre and state and sources say that they have yet to get any reply.

Interestingly, while Larsen and Toubro has alleged that Keltron’s bid was incomplete and non-compliant, Greater Chennai Corporation official rejected the allegations and said it does not hold ground.

Interestingly, the Centre plays a pivotal role in seamlessly synthesizing various departments’ data and dissemination of predictive & real-time analytics leveraging Internet of Things (IoT) and Big Data management.

Taking inspiration from the Rio de Janeiro’s Centro de Operacoes (Operational Control Centre), this has become a central project in smart city plans throughout the country.

Rio has elicited widespread private participation, especially from tech giant IBM to bring this system online, which is being emulated elsewhere too.

Some of the projects to be taken up include the integration of traffic management, disaster management and e-governance under one roof which will create greater efficiency.

Other projects like the smart signalling, intelligent transport system, disaster management, parking management system and city surveillance will be connected on the single-platform established in the Greater Chennai Corporation. Additionally, the mapping of underground utilities will further assist the construction of a real-time three-dimensional map of various networks in the city.

What is Chennai Control and Command Centre:

--- 24 civic agencies of Chennai, including Chennai Corporation, Metrowater, Meteorological Department and the Police, will come together for setting up of an integrated command and control centre.

--- The centre will be build at a cost of Rs 180 crore and will provide effective delivery of services.

--- It will be similar to that of 911 helpline implemented in the United States.

---- The centre will be a confluence point for data to facilitate such coordination under smart city projects.

---- The city will also have its own surveillance system with 100 locations with 400 fixed box camera, 100 PTZ camera, and facial recognition system.

--- A solid waste management system covering 50 locations will soon be commenced.