In Faridabad, waste disposal, drain clean-up at snail’s pace

Bijendra Ahlawat

Faridabad, June 25

The drive of solid waste disposal and cleaning up of drains is yet to pick up momentum in the city as clogged drains and dumping of waste in the open continue unabated.

Though the authorities claimed to have launched the exercise of cleaning up drains and streamlining the work of solid waste disposal, the process is yet to pick up pace, reveal sources in civic administration. “While Urban Local Bodies Minister Subhash Sudha, who visited the city last week, had ordered suspension of an official of the Municipal Corporation Faridabad (MCF), nothing has changed much in view of the poor sanitary conditions,” said an employee on condition of anonymity. He said while the work of door-to-door waste collection would start after the finalisation of tenders, several tonnes of waste accumulated at various spots daily was awaiting disposal.

The MCF had announced to float tenders for the work of waste collection and disposal last month in wake of the poor work done by the agency given the contract in 2017. A total of eight new tenders were invited – four tenders are related to door-to-door collection of waste, the other four are for removal of shifting the waste from local collection spots (khatas) to the main landfill (dumping) or processing site.

While six tenders have been opened, the authorities are expected to announce the finalisation of agencies soon, according to sources.

The other major issue yet to be tackled is the cleanliness drive of the drains and sewage lines. As the downpour on Friday exposed the preparedness of the authorities, the MCF is yet to reveal the deadline of cleaning the 36 major and minor drains in the city. Mona Sriniwas, Commissioner, MCF, pulled up the officials for poor work regarding cleaning up of drains and the removal of garbage from some spots on Sunday.

Birender Kardam, Chief Engineer, MCF said while cleaning of the drains and removal of the waste had already been started, he said the contracts of waste disposal were in the final stage of finalisation. The MCF is likely to spend funds upto Rs 2.50 lakh on the work of disposal of over 800 tonnes of waste daily.

Drive for solid waste disposal started

• The MCF had announced to float tenders for the work of waste collection and disposal last month in the wake of poor work done by the agency given the contract in 2017.
• For now, MCF’s own staff and monthly based contractors are doing the needful which is inadequate to clear 800 tonnes of garbage every day .
• Eight new tenders were invited, four tenders are related to door-to-door collection of waste, the other four are for removal of shifting the waste from local collection spots to the main dumping site.