'We will throw away the garbage mafia': DKS on HC stay on collection tenders

Bengaluru: Reacting to the Karnataka High Court's order to stay the tendering process related to collection and transportation (C&T) of garbage, Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar said some people are engaged in obstructing works by getting stays through Public Interest Litigations (PIL).

"This will not work with us. We will throw away the garbage mafia and will give opportunities to newcomers," he said.

He said, "How will it work if we do not clean the city? I will study the judgement. There were 89 tenders earlier and they have all ganged up. It is a mafia. They think they can take refuge under the court's order."

"We will persuade the court about this," he said.

Around two weeks ago, the Bengaluru Solid Waste Management Ltd (BSWML) floated tenders for the door-to-door collection and transportation of garbage by dividing the work into 33 packages. This is the second attempt for BSWML. Many previous attempts to float the tenders by the BBMP, too, had failed. The project is estimated to cost Rs 540 crore annually.

The tender had mandated new vehicles for the collection of garbage along with payments linked to performance, which also included penalties. After a pre-bid meeting held recently, the BSWML reportedly tweaked the tender conditions to favour agencies with fewer years of experience.