Garbage contractors have threatened to stop collection and transportation of municipal waste from the city over non-payment of pending bills.
The Bangalore Mahanagara Swachathe Matthu Lorry Malikara Hagoo Guthigedarara Sangh (regd.), in a letter submitted to Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) Commissioner N. Manjunath Prasad, said it will go on a strike from November 30.
Sangh general secretary S.N. Balasubramaniam claimed that bills amounting to ₹400 crore were pending. In the South zone, pending bills date back to January this year. “Bills from April 2020 are pending in other zones,” he said, adding that they had met senior officials, including Mr. Prasad, earlier this month. “We were assured that the pending bills would be cleared before Deepavali. However, despite the Commissioner’s instruction to clear bills, officials are refusing to do so,” he alleged.
He claimed that contractors were not able to pay their employees and had borrowed heavily for day-to-day maintenance.
Mr. Prasad said he had spoken with the Sangh. “We have assured them that the bills will be cleared and we will release the pending amount partially. We will release the remaining amount in phases,” he said.
However, Mr. Balasubramaniam said the Sangh will meet Mr. Prasad and senior officials on Saturday morning and take a call on the strike based on the outcome of the meeting.
