MCG cancels C&D waste disposal tender
Sumedha Sharma
Gurugram, June 6
Struggling with around 10 lakh metric tonnes of construction and demolition waste choking every possible space available, the Millennium City is far from getting any respite.
The civic authority has gone ahead cancelling the tenders issued to an agency to collect and transport the waste to treatment plant as the state now plans to reissue the tenders at state level. In a letter shot to the Urban Local Bodies Department, the MCG has asked them to abstain from taking further action on a proposal to issue a work order for concerned agency in the wake of decision to go for state wide tenders.
The move has yet again left environmentalists and city residents up in arms.
“They have made a joke of the city. We have debris all over and for almost three years, no proper mechanism has been put in place to deal with the C and D waste. If one travels on the Gurugram-Faridabad road, one sees the waste has concretised the Aravallis. Tendering and re-tendering to favour agencies is delaying much required solution. With monsoons not far away, we all know what will happen now,” said environmentalist Jatinder Bhadana.
“We are living in a virtual dumpyard. Sector 29 is one of the most premium areas and look at the open spaces. The C and D waste is choking drains and leading to massive dust pollution but who cares. They have lost half the year to get an agency and another half will be lost for the agency to figure out how to work,” said Suparna Yadav, a Sector 29 resident.
It may be noted Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) had highlighted almost six months ago how C and D waste was choking drains in the city and could lead to water logging and flash floods.
It was in 2021 that Gurugram managed to make it to Niti Aayog reports for best C and D management but things went downhill when the then concessionaire (company that has the right to sell a product or to run a business in a building belonging to another business) Pragati AL Natural Resources Pvt Ltd ran into a controversy. Following a complaint by RTI activist accusing agency of fraudulent bills, the tender was cancelled in 2022. An enquiry was marked which remained inconclusive and the agency managed to win the tender yet again this year on February 9, 2024 with the lowest bid at Rs 162 per tonne. Though MCG has not issued any official statement regarding the withdrawal of tender, sources say that tender cancellation pertains to the previous controversy against the concessionaire.
“ We have been acquitted of all charges and it was a mere defamatory attempt by an RTI activist with dubious reputation. The tender was won legally and now cancellation is not justified. We are taking a legal recourse and also talking to senior officials,” read a statement issued by the concessionaire.
