Is the state government having second thoughts on the Rs 70-crore tram-track repair project in north and central Calcutta? It seems so, judging by its decision to defer the date for opening tenders till the month-end.

Transport officials said on Monday that the tenders, scheduled to be opened last Friday, would be taken up in a day or two, but a final decision might have to wait till the demand for a review of modalities, raised by various quarters, was examined.

?There are certain flaws in the way the programme has been structured,? said an official. ?Assembly polls are round the corner and the government cannot afford to get caught on the wrong foot.?

The flaws, according to the official, are

6Inadequate time (three months)

6Most ?pre-qualified contractors? do not have the experience of repairing tram tracks and roads laid with them

6As the project entails digging up of several arteries almost simultaneously, traffic across the city is likely to be affected.

Apparently, popular sentiment as well as pressure from Left Front functionaries, including some from the CPM, are forcing the government and the Hooghly River Bridge Commissioners (HRBC), the nodal agency for the project, to re-examine the modalities. The leadership of the ruling front is reportedly apprehensive of losing popular support if project work throws life out of gear in the run-up to the elections.

?We cannot take an uninformed decision. All aspects need to be examined. Our idea is to improve tram tracks, not make people curse us,? said HRBC chairman Swadesh Chakraborty.

CPM leaders responsible for the party?s prospects in the city are pressing on the government not to take up the entire project at once, but to start with one or two stretches ? like Shyambazar-Bidhan Sarani and Mullickbazar-Rajabazar-Maniktala Main Road. ?Starting work in the Shyambazar segment will help people enormously,? said a CPM leader. ?It will ensure faster movement of traffic on a long stretch from Barrackpore to Ballygunge.?

For the HRBC, two major headaches are inadequate time-limit and inexperienced ?pre-qualified? contractors, who do not have any idea how to repair tram tracks without disturbing traffic and tampering with the network of utility lines underground.

Chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and the CPM leadership are expected to entrust finance minister Asim Dasgupta with putting the project on the right tracks. To have it neatly executed before the polls, Dasgupta may have to consider regrouping the packages and apportioning work among experienced firms.