Garbage disposal a chronic problem in Faridabad

Bijendra Ahlawat

The Smart City project and the outsourcing policy of the Municipal Corporation Faridabad (MCF) have ‘failed’ to address the problem of garbage disposal in Faridabad city. With a daily turnover of 700 tonnes of domestic and non-domestic waste, the work of the agency that was given the contract of solid waste management about one and a half years ago has been unsatisfactory. The Municipal Corporation has issued a fresh notice to the company to either improve its working or face the termination of the contract. Numerous notices have been issued earlier also but the functioning of the company has not improved. The MCF is paying Rs 1.75 crore as monthly fee for to the company.

“Several dumps of garbage and waste can be noticed in every nook and corner of Faridabad city. The garbage remains unattended for days by the agency, resulting in a foul smell and insanitary conditions in every part, including posh residential sectors,” says Varun Sheokand, a social activist. 

He says that they will soon launch an agitation on the issue. He along with several local residents will sit on dharna to highlight the problem of insanitary conditions in the city, which has reached a critical stage. “Garbage lying in the open in various parts of Faridabad city invites scavengers and stray cattle. It not only results in a foul smell but also serves as a breeding ground for mosquitoes causing diseases. Stray cattle consume garbage containing polythene bags and other harmful products, endangering their lives,” says AK Gaur, a resident of Sector 86. 

He says that a surgery done on a sick cow recently had led to the recovery of 25 kg of polythene bags and metals from its abdomen. The cow was operated upon on the initiative of the People For Animals (PFA) after it was found lying in pain on a road last month. “Polythene bags were found in the abdomens of all seven cows that were operated upon in Faridabad city in the past one year,” Ravi Dubey, a PFA activist. Improper disposal of polythene bags in garbage has not only resulted in pollution, but also caused danger to animals, he adds.

Naresh Shastri, president of the Nagarpalika Karamchari Sangh, says that the outsourcing of the garbage disposal work to a private company has perhaps served the interests of the municipal authorities only, while Faridabad has turned into a garbage city. The garbage disposal work has gone from bad to worse over the past few years. 

Shastri says that the MCF is facing an acute shortage of sanitary workers and Faridabad city has only 3,500 workers against the required strength of 12,000. Around Rs 21 crore given to the private company every year could have been used to improve the municipal infrastructure for better results, he adds. 

The MCF had entered into a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Ecogreen, a Chinese firm, in November 2017 for solid waste management. While the MCF awarded the work of garbage collection and removal to Ecogreen, it also announced to set up a waste to power plant worth Rs 330 crore at Bandhwari village, the garbage dumping site located on the Faridabad-Gurugram highway. This site receives 1,200 tonnes to 1,400 tonnes of waste from Faridabad and Gurugram. The foundation of the power plant expected to be laid in August this year may get delayed. “We have issued another notice to Ecogreen over the poor work of garbage removal. We will be assessing the progress with regard to the promise of a waste to power plant at Bandhwari, in which 10 MW is to be generated daily,” says DR Bhaskar, Chief Engineer, MCF. 

The MCF has already issued around 30 notices and reminders to the company for improving its work, says Bhaskar. Interestingly while the MCF had stopped a payment of Rs 13 crore to Ecogreen in February 2018 for its poor work, the issuance of notices to the company has resulted in the replacement of its CEO, who was looking after the work. The poor working of the company has also impacted the grading of the city in the national Swachhata Abhiyan 2018. 

Regarding the sanitation work covered under the Smart City project, NK Katara, a senior official of Faridabad Smart City Limited, the special purpose vehicle looking after the work here, says that garbage collection and removal comes under the jurisdiction of the MCF and not the Smart City Project. He adds that though earlier a budget was allocated, the work was left with the MCF, as waste management was a major job that it was already looking after.

The Smart City project worth Rs 2,600 crore was formally launched on June 25, 2016. The FSCL has allocated tenders worth Rs 350 crore to various agencies to carry out jobs related to the Smart City project, says Katara.