Ahmedabad, June 18 The snail-paced tender process for vehicles for the Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) in the city has finally kicked off with five bidders submitting their offers. The tenders, which were submitted on Tuesday, will be opened on June 20. The tenders were invited for 50 buses, and according to Municipal Commissioner I P Gautam, this time the bidders feel that the bus prices are reasonable. He said the deadline for commissioning of the BRTS will be the nearest possible to the actual commissioning.

"The selection criterion is that the prospective bidder must possess his own system of repairs and maintenance and should not be dependent on other workshops," he added. When asked if the work will be affected due to the rains, he said, work on the Pirana-RTO route is going on in full swing and this will continue during monsoon also. "The Monsoon will not affect work on this route because it is all surface work now, not involving any digging," he said. He added that work on bridges and flyovers coming up on this route is also progressing well.

Gautam further said that tenders submitted for the construction of flyovers near Soni ni Chali and Isanpur Chokdi are being scrutinised, while those for spots near CTM Char Rasta and Jahodanagar Chokdi, both across the Narol-Naroda highway, have already been approved.

The designing for the Jamalpur flyover and Nana Chiloda beyond Naroda are in the advanced stage, he said.

Gautam added said that the proposal for a bridge across Sarkhej-Gandhinagar highway near Fun Republic has been prepared by the National Highways Division of the state government, which will be submitted to the National Highway Authority of India.