High Court stays firm’s termination

Tribune Reporters

Gurugram, June 20

The Punjab and Haryana High Court has stayed the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram’s (MCG) notice that terminated solid waste management concessionaire Ecogreen’s contract.

MC launches drive to promote waste segregation

• Gurugram: The Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) has launched a ‘waste bag’ campaign under the Solid Waste Environment Exigency Programme (SWEEP).
• As part of the initiative, the Gurugram MC on Thursday started distributing specially designed waste collection bags in all wards.
• It is expected to strengthen the body’s door-to-door waste collection efforts. Citizens were also encouraged to use these bags to segregate garbage and hand over filled trash bags to waste collectors or drop them off at the designated dumping points.
• MCG Commissioner Narhari Singh Banger said the ‘waste bag’ campaign was formally launched by the Urban Local Bodies Minister Subhash Sudha on Wednesday.
• These bags would be distributed in all wards under the civic body’s jurisdiction through various channels such as RWAs, garbage collection vehicles & community centres. TNS

The stay order comes amid controversies surrounding the firm’s performance and alleged breach of contract. The firm had filed a petition for the quashing of the termination notice that was issued by the MCG on June 14.

An agreement was signed between both the parties on August 14, 2017, for the development of Integrated Waste Management (collection, transportation, processing and disposal) in the Faridabad-Gurugram cluster.

The company has alleged that the notice was served with mala fide and ulterior motive. It added that the grounds mentioned in the termination notice were perfunctory illegal, concocted and away from the ground reality, and were being challenged.

Earlier this year, the civic body had decided to terminate Ecogreen’s contract, citing consistent underperformance, inadequate waste collection, and non-compliance with the contractual terms. The decision was met with mixed reactions from the public, with some residents complaining about deteriorating waste management services, while others expressed concerns about the disruption of services during the transition to a new contractor.

In response, Ecogreen filed a petition in the HC, arguing that the termination was unjustified and that they had been making efforts to improve their services. It also highlighted logistical challenges and delays beyond their control, such as infrastructure issues and inclement weather conditions, which had hampered their operations. Besides, they had to deal with a “mafia” that collected the waste, hampering the company’s operations, it said.

The court granted a stay on the contract termination, allowing Ecogreen to continue its operations until a final decision was made. It stressed the importance of uninterrupted waste management services for public health. The next hearing is scheduled for July 4.

The MCG has already given the contract for door-to-door waste collection to three new agencies that were transporting waste from secondary points to the Bandhwari landfill, said officials.

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