BBMP offers 5-year contract for door-to-door waste collection

The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has extended the contract for door-to-door waste collection from one to five years.

Officials said the extension of the contract period will allow contractors to deploy new four-wheelers to collect waste and take full responsibility to maintain the ward garbage-free. On the other hand, the new system would reduce competition.

The Palike is spending anywhere between Rs 10 lakh and Rs 45 lakh a month per ward for waste collection, while expenditure to transport the collected garbage from auto-tippers to processing plants or landfills by compactors is separate. In all, the civic body spends approximately Rs 50 crore just on waste collection and transportation alone.

Despite spending a large sum, not all contractors engaged by the BBMP for door-to-door waste collection were selected through a tender process.

The civic body floated tenders to deploy service providers in 110 wards, but court cases and strong political lobbying have forced the Palike to extend services of existing contractors in all the
remaining wards.

System change

Intending to streamline the door-to-door waste collection carried out at a cost of Rs 600 crore, senior Palike officials are holding marathon meetings for the past one week to finalise tender conditions. It is learnt that the BBMP has plans to introduce a performance-based contract system in which a single agency is in-charge of collecting all types of waste from residential buildings to commercial establishments.

“The auto-tippers used in many wards for collecting waste are very old. There have been complaints of these vehicles causing air pollution. We have hence decided to provide a longer service period so that the agency deploys only new vehicles,” a BBMP official said, adding that the agency will be held responsible for blackspots in a ward.

Monopoly fears

Concerns are also growing that a five-year contract will encourage monopoly and edge out small players from the waste-collection business.

Former councillor N R Ramesh said engaging one agency for five years is a good move if the selection is done in a fair and transparent manner.

“The tender conditions should be such that no blacklisted companies or ones facing criminal charges are allowed to participate. I am of the view that the children of retired pourakarmikas should be given first preference to collect waste as they have sacrificed their entire life to keep the city clean,” he said.

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