Faridabad civic body floats tender for regular disposal of solid waste

Bijendra Ahlawat

Tribune News Service

Faridabad, August 6

Following the directions of the state government, the Municipal Corporation of Faridabad has issued fresh tenders to award contracts regarding the disposal of the civic waste on a regular basis.

MC to now collect fee from residents

• According to sources in the civic administration, officials of the MC had been directed by the government to release fresh tenders to replace the older ones, which were issued around two months ago.
• As per the new directions, the MC will have to collect the user charges (fee) from the residents and pay the same fee to the contractors engaged for the work of collection and disposal.
• The MC has been advised to include the waste collection charges in the house tax or property tax realised from the residents.

According to sources in the civic administration, officials of the civic body had been directed by the government to release fresh tenders to replace the older ones, which were issued around two months ago. Under the previous contract, the MC had authorised the contractors to collect and dispose of the waste on the basis of fee charged from residents on a monthly basis.

The contractors were to collect the fee from the households or units as per the approved rates and had to submit contract charges to the MC on a monthly basis.

However, officials say this modus operandi was disapproved by the government, following which the previous contract was cancelled and directions were issued for fresh tenders.

According to the new directions, the civic body will have to collect the user charges (fee) from the residents and pay the same fee to the contractors engaged for the work of collection and disposal.

The MC has been advised to include the waste collection charges in the house tax or property tax realised from the residents.

However, sources in the civic body claim that the old method was much easier than the new one as it would save the civic body from the hassles of collecting the user charges from the residents. The civic body was supposed to get a sum of Rs 30 lakh per month under the old contract released in June this year.

The new process could result in financial issues or losses in wake of the hurdles faced in the recovery of the house tax as the civic body is able to collect less than one-fourth of the due tax each year. Over Rs 150 crore of house tax is outstanding.

“The work of solid waste disposal in this industrial hub has been affected due to non-implementation of a long-term and transparent strategy,” said a retired Faridabad MC official. The mismanagement led to the cancellation of the contract given to a private firm in 2017 after reports of “poor” work.

The daily waste of around 900 tonnes is disposed of at various spots, including the waste processing plants in Pratapgarh and Mujeri villages and landfill site of Bandhwari.

MC Chief Engineer Birender Kardam said as the fresh tenders had been floated, the waste disposal work would be carried out as per the norms.