The Mangalore City Corporation has extended the contract period of its eight contractors handling solid waste in the city by two more months till January end next year. With this, the total implementation of its three-package solid waste management scheme has taken a back seat.
Now, the corporation has partially implemented the three-package solid waste (garbage) management scheme. Collecting and transporting solid waste (including street sweeping, divider cleaning, removing weeds) from north zone (29 wards) and south zone (31 wards) comprise two packages. The third package comprise operation and maintenance of compost plant and sanitary landfill site at Pachchanady, which is handled by Unique Waste Processing Company Ltd., Delhi, since July.
According to sources in the corporation, Antony Waste Handling Pvt. Ltd., Mumbai, which was selected in December last year for collecting and transporting waste from north zone and south zone — that is two packages — is yet to take up the job.
As the term of the eight contractors expired last month they were given an extension till the end of January hoping that by that time the Mumbai-based company would start its operation.
Recipe for delayIf not, the sources said, the civic body was likely to invite fresh bids for multiple handling of the waste, which is being done now.
The sources said that the delay was because Antony Waste Handling was bargaining for a higher fee than what was submitted by the company in 2011.
However, the corporation shot down the demand, and a month ago the company agreed to take up the job as per its original bidding. The company had quoted Rs. 7.95 crore per annum for waste management in north zone and Rs. 9.67 crore per annum for south zone.
During this past one year, the corporation had asked the company thrice to revise its “mobilisation chart” (details regarding workers, equipment and vehicles it would deploy and time management).
This, coupled with city corporation and Assembly elections, led to the delay, said the sources.
Ajith Kumar Hegde S., Commissioner of the corporation, told The Hindu that there was no question of going back to the multiple package scheme. He said that it might take some time for the two-package scheme to become a reality.
He was non-committal on whether the civic body would impose solid waste management cess while collecting property tax from April next.
He said that the elected council would have to take a policy decision to this effect. The sources said that if the two-package scheme was implemented and the solid waste management cess collected with property tax, the door-to-door collection of solid waste would become a success.
