Waste disposal contract likely to be terminated due to ‘poor work’

Bijendra Ahlawat

Faridabad, November 11

A six-year-old contract pertaining to the disposal of solid waste of Faridabad and Gurugram is likely to be terminated soon allegedly due to “poor work”, according to sources in the Department of Urban Local Bodies (ULB).

The department had signed an MoU with Ecogreen, a private company, for waste disposal and setting up of a waste-to-energy plant in 2017.

Rs 40L payment paltry

The crisis erupted due to various factors, including the non-availability of dumping spots and related facilities. The payment of Rs 40 lakh per month is paltry against the expected bill of Rs 2 crore, and was thus affecting the work. Anant Suthoo, spokesperson of ecogreen

The proposed move to terminate the contract has come up in wake of numerous complaints of non-performance over the years and the failure to set up the plant at Bandhwari village — the main dumping site near the border of Faridabad and Gurugram districts.

“While the contract of disposal of daily waste was fixed at Rs 1,000 per tonne, it was reduced to Rs 333 per tonne last year following several complaints of poor work related to the removal, segregation and recycling of waste,” said an official on condition of anonymity.

He said as no work on the plant had started, garbage was being dumped alongside roads, leading to insanitary conditions. Scores of notices and warnings were issued, but to no avail.

A fine up to 25 per cent of the monthly bill had been in operation against the agency for the past two years, revealed the sources.

The Municipal Corporation Faridabad (MCF) had imposed a penalty of around Rs 10 lakh recently.

Since 1,600 tonnes of daily waste was being disposed of at Bandhwari village, the site was “overfilled”, resulting in a ban by the NGT in 2021 on further dumping. Though the authorities had been directed to adopt alternative measures for removal, segregation and recycling in a safe manner, the disposal of waste was still going on at Bandhwari in the absence of alternative spots.

Anant Suthoo, spokesperson of Ecogreen, claimed that the crisis had erupted due to various factors, including the non-availability of dumping spots and related facilities. He said the payment of Rs 40 lakh per month was “paltry” against the expected bill of Rs 2 crore, and thus was affecting the work.

Padam Bhushan, Executive Engineer, MCF, said any decision regarding the contract would be decided by the ULB authorities, adding that measures were on to ensure proper disposal of solid waste.