When Tamil Nadu Local Administration Minister M K Stalin — in his stint as Mayor of Chennai — hired Singapore-based Onyx for clearing garbage in Chennai in 2000 as part of his dream project of beautifying the city, he would not have imagined that a day would come when the same DMK-controlled Chennai Corporation would goof up the job. The corporation has entrusted the contract to a new entity that has proved to be a disaster. Result, mounds of garbage piled up everywhere.

The idea of outsourcing the job was not bad, in itself, as the corporation conservancy staff were always in short supply and their way of removing garbage in open lorries was primitive, with the trucks leaving a trail of stink. Onyx came as a refreshing change as it used trucks fitted with compactors and hook loaders that would lift the huge bins put up in the zones assigned to the company and transfer the garbage into a container which would then close. And the staff were given uniforms and hand gloves.

Mayor M Subramaniam, an acolyte of  Stalin, called for tenders when Onyx contract came up for renewal. The contract was awarded to Neel Metal Fanalca Environment Management Pvt Ltd, a joint venture between Neel Metal Products Ltd of India and Fanalca SA of Columbia as it was the lowest bidder. And Onyx removed all its garbage bins on August 25 when its contract ended, catching Fanalca off guard. Then, it had not even acquired vehicles. The next shock was its decision to use open tempos instead of trucks. There was more loss of time as the vehicles had to be registered. By the time the formalities were over and the vehicles were ready to move in, three days had passed and the city had started stinking with mounds of garbage strewn all over.

Soon political parties, in a move that the ruling DMK might consider muck-raking, stepped in to fill the breach. The first to fire the salvo was Desiya Murpokku Dravidar Kazhagam leader Vijayakanth, who announced his partymen would do the job if the trash was not removed soon. Acting in double quick time, the state government asked the city police to organise local councillors and conservancy staff and get cracking. And they did, with the overenthusiastic policemen themselves lending a hand. The very same midnight, Leader of the Opposition and AIADMK General Secretary J Jayalalitha instructed her partymen in the city to get down to the streets and clean up the mess. When hundreds of partymen, including former ministers, joined the fray, the police took them into custody and removed them. Of course, they were let off later in the day. But by then, the political damage had been done.

The issue led to a storm at the corporation council meeting and Mayor Subramaniam had to assure agitated members that the contract with Neel Metal would be terminated with two months’ notice if it did not show results soon. He himself went round the three zones assigned to Neel Metal and made a token removal of garbage.
The mess still remains. And all that could go wrong has gone wrong. First, Neel Metal’s credentials in handling the job in a city of five million people were not properly considered. Neel Metal had no experience. For Falanca SA, this was the first job in Asia. Secondly, Fanalca wanted to replicate the model it had used in Columbia, that is house-to-house collection of garbage, and so did not feel the need for roadside bins. With most households having working couples, the company was told this was unworkable. Then the company started putting up trash cans, too small to take the accumulated waste. So bad was the situation at one time that Onyx offered to lend a helping hand free of cost though it was ousted from the job.

Now the buck is being passed around. Neel Metal Chief Executive Officer B S Batra blames the “initial hiccups” on accumulated garbage left behind by the previous agency. Besides, a plastic company in Gujarat, which was to supply the bins had had a fire accident and Neel Metal had to look elsewhere. Roughly, 3,700 bins, 32 compactor trucks, 27 containers and 10 hook loaders will arrive soon, he says. To add to Fanalca’s woes, half of the 2,700 employees hired by it resigned for various reasons and it had to go in for fresh recruitment. “By the end of September, we will have all our equipment and enough manpower”, says Batra. The company hopes to start door-to-door collection of garbage in phases as people have to be educated on segregating biodegradable and non-degradable waste at home.

The question that begs for an answer is why is the whole city stinking when the contract for garbage clearance had been given only for three zones and the corporation is supposed to look after the remaining seven.

Corporation Commissioner Rajesh Lakhoni says “in these seven zones, there is already a system in place and enough workers”. What he means is that the corporation conservancy staff are looking after them. But they are rarely seen. And reports from these zones, including some suburbs covered by the corporation, tell their own tale. And it smells.