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Solid waste outsourcing policy a failure

The Municipal Corporation Faridabad (MCF), which had outsourced solid waste management to a private concern for the first time two years ago, is perhaps feeling let down considering the success rate achieved so far.

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Bijendra Ahlawat

The Municipal Corporation Faridabad (MCF), which had outsourced solid waste management to a private concern for the first time two years ago, is perhaps feeling let down considering the success rate achieved so far. 

The civic body attending to the largest populated urban area of the state is still struggling with basic issue of garbage removal and waste management due to the alleged poor work.

The gravity of the problem could be gauged from the fact that the company, which had been allotted the work for the first time in August 2017, has been issued more than two dozen notices by the MCF authorities till date, in which the company officials have been warned of getting the contract terminated if the work does not improves within the stipulated time. 

Payments stopped but to no avail

Revealing that the MCF has stopped the payments to the company on several occasions citing poor work and complaints, certain senior officials of the civic body admitted privately that the work of solid waste management in the city had failed to improve despite privatisation. Strike by both regular and contractual employees has come out as a major concern, as this result in dumping garbage for several days together in residential and commercial areas. While the company is paid about Rs 28 lakh per month for the disposal of city’s garbage, the MCF has stopped payments on various occasions in the last couple of years citing poor work and ignoring the warnings served. The total payments that have been suspended till date is worth around Rs 6 crore, it is revealed. 

Bandhwari village power plant yet to see light of day

The setting up of waste to power plant at Bandhwari village is also running well behind schedule as it is expected to take another one year to set up the plant, against the earlier target of June 2019.

The Municipal Corporations of Faridabad and Gurugram had signed the MoU for setting up the first Integrated Solid Waste Management project of the state. It was announced that the Rs 330 crore project was to be set up at the waste dumping site at Bandhwari village for the generation of 10 MW power from waste daily. The state government had allocated the project to Ecogreen Energy, a Chinese company, for setting up and executing the project. It was claimed that the plant was first-of-its-kind in the country, in which the power produced by the plant was to be purchased by the state Power Department and the plant was expected to be ready within two years. This project was to generate power from waste in addition to the disposal of around 700 tonne garbage of the city.

Workers’ demands pending for long

Alleging that the waste management work had still been lying in a shambles, Naresh Shastri, president of the Nagarpalika Karamchari Sangh, Haryana, charged that instead of adopting a fair practice and management, the authorities stopped the PF payment of workers engaged by the company. 

Alleging that the demands of an odd-4,000 regular employees of MCF, which include regularisation and recruitment of more staff, had been pending for the past several years, he claimed that the delay on the part of the government had often forced the civic staff to go on strike.

“The move of handing over the work to private hands has failed miserably, as the authorities concerned adopted it without adequate preparation and planning, which has assumed massive proportion in the past few decades as the population of the city multiplied in comparison to the infrastructure and machinery put in to tackle the job that needs to be carried out on a daily basis and without fail,” said Varun Sheokand, a social activist. Blaming corruption and mismanagement, he said garbage can be seen at every nook and corner, suggesting that the problem may even torpedo the Smart City project worth Rs 2,600 crore . 

Transferring as many as nine Commissioners of MCF in the four-year time highlights the seriousness of the authorities in this regard, he said. MCF Commissioner Sonal Goel, who took over the charge recently, said: “Efforts are on to speed up the work of cleanliness and to channel the waste disposal in a swift manner. Strict action may be taken against anyone including the company, if it fails to deliver efficiently.”


Efforts are on to speed up the work of cleanliness and to channelise  waste disposal in a swift manner. Strict action will be taken against anyone including the company if it fails to deliver efficiently. —Sonal Goel, MCF Commissioner 

The move of handing over the work to private hands has failed miserably, as the authorities concerned adopted it without adequate preparation. The problem has assumed massive proportion in the past few decades. —Varun Sheokand, A social activist

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