Chandigarh MC to float fresh tender for cleaning of southern sectors

The Municipal Corporation (MC) will float a fresh tender for allotment of sanitation work in southern sectors.

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Sources privy to the developments said the civic body has prepared an agenda, which is likely to be placed in the next General House meeting on June 3.

The tender will be floated for the sanitation work in the sectors starting from Sector 31 to 63.

Notably, city councillors had been demanding for early allotting of work citing dissatisfaction with the present set-up. The MC had also formed a committee under the leadership of Joint Commissioner two years ago, which has also recommended that there should be a fresh tender for the cleaning works in the southern sectors.

At this point, Lions Services Limited is carrying out the sanitation works in the southern sectors, having been awarded the contract in 2017. The corporation pays the company approximately Rs 50 crore annually (Rs 4 crore every month) while it looks after the cleaning of Sectors 1 to 30 on it own.

Sources in the civic body said it has revised the terms and conditions in such a manner that even smaller companies, including joint ventures, will also become eligible for work. Besides, it has also been proposed to reduce the contract tenure to two years from five.

Another change in the terms and conditions would be the mandate to depute employees on the basis of the area. The company will have to appoint a fixed numbers of the employees for the area allotted to it.

Besides, the company will have to carry out mechanised sweeping on all major roads while manual cleaning will be allowed only on internal roads. The company will have to also arrange machines using its own sources.

Councillors have raised questions about some of the proposed revisions the terms and conditions. One of them expressed apprehensiveness over small companies’ ability to meet the requirements, noting that they may not have the financial means to purchase mechanised sweeping machines. The councillor also took note of the difficulty in looking up the history of small companies and to verify whether they are blacklisted in the other states.