Private contractors’ strike leaves Faridabad in deep mess

Tribune News Service

Faridabad, November 23

The strike by the contractors of a private company that has been outsourced the work of waste disposal by the Faridabad Municipal Corporation has left the city full of garbage.

The city churns out around 800 tonnes of solid waste daily.

“Hundreds of tonnes of garbage collected in the past few days have been lying at various dumping points in the city. The waste was to be removed to the main dumping site at Bandhwari village, but the strike by the private contractors, carrying out the job since December 2017, has brought the process to a halt,” reveal MC sources.

“More than 600 tonnes of waste is lying at a collection centre on the Mujheri road here, which has not been cleared for the past three to four days,” said an employee of a contractor engaged in garbage disposal. Moreover, there are 10 to 12 other dumping stations, where the garbage has not been removed for the past three days, he added. The employee said the problem arose due to the delay in the payment of around Rs 6 crore due to the contractors.

Won’t budge

Six of us have resorted to strike till our dues are cleared. The work has been halted after the officials concerned expressed their inability to clear the dues without justifying the delay, which is going on for the past six months. —Azad Harsana, Contractor

Claiming that over Rs 1 crore was pending, Azad Harsana, a contractor, said he along with five others had resorted to strike till the payment was cleared. He said the company officials had called a meeting at Bandhwari on Monday evening.

A total of six contractors have been assigned the garbage disposal work in Faridabad and Gurugram.

“The MC has failed to resolve the issue of garbage disposal despite spending over Rs 53 crore in the past three years due to rampant corruption,” alleges PP Kapoor, an RTI activist.

Meanwhile, Inderjeet, MC Additional Commissioner, said the matter had been taken up with the company and was expected to be resolved soon.

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