JOIN USNew contractor fumbles on Day One
The garbage problem may soon come back to haunt the City as the major contractor firm BVG India Private Limited, which has been assigned the responsibility of keeping more than 60 per cent of the City clean, has grossly failed in Yelahanka zone, leaving 11 wards there full of filth.
In the name of ridding the City of the 'garbage mafia', the BBMP had floated new garbage contracts and divided the contracts into 89 packages worth Rs 306 crore.
Of these, 80 have been awarded, while no decision has been taken regarding the remaining nine. Of the 80 packages, BVG India bagged the maximum of 49 packages. The firm had claimed that it had enough men and machines to rid the City of the garbage problem.
The new garbage contract came into force from December 1, but on Day One itself, BVG India could not deploy the required number of pourakarmikas, vehicles, equipment and other materials as per the agreement.
The BVG India has got five packages in Yelahanka zone to clear garbage in 11 wards. As per the tender conditions, the contractor is supposed to employ 888 labourers, 717 pushcarts and 91 autorickshaws and tippers in Yelahanka alone.
According to BBMP Joint Commissioner of Yelahanka zone, Y M Ramachandra Murthy, the contractor could employ only 20 per cent of the required number of pourakarmikas in the last three days.
The sources said the contractor employed 200 pourakarmikas on Saturday, 139 on Sunday and 140 on Monday. Also, the contractor could deploy only 20 pushcarts and 23 autorickshaws and tippers.
Due to the lack of manpower, nine trucks of garbage could not be sent to the landfills. In Jakkur, Thanisandra and Byatarayanapura, garbage could not be lifted for the last three days. BBMP’s Yelahanka zone had to clear garbage in Kodigehalli,
Vidyaranyapura, Dodda Bommasandra and Kuvempu Nagar by itself.
“We served notices on the contractor on Saturday and Sunday for failing to deploy the required number of men and machines,” said Murthy.
BBMP Commissioner Rajneesh Goel admitted that the garbage contractor could not meet the expectations in Yelahanka.
Segregation fails
The failure in garbage clearance has resulted in filth piling up across Yelahanka zone. The zone, in the past, had emerged as a model with 100 per cent segregation of waste at source. Even if people gave segregated waste, it was being mixed later, said Palike sources.
There were rumours that the old contractors were out to sabotage the new contract system and compelled the pourakarmikas not to work under BVG India.
However, the general secretary of the previous contractors' association Balasubramanyam rubbished the allegations, saying the pourakarmikas themselves were unwilling to work under the new contractor. He dismissed rumours that the pourakarmikas had been sent on a junket.
“These are nothing but cooked up stories to hide the inability to perform,” said Balasubramanyam.