The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation's (BMC) plan of appointing a contractor on a pilot project basis to lift garbage from three wards in the western suburbs has already hit a snag. With complaints pouring in regarding irregular garbage lifting from localities, corporators have begun complaining that waste remains strewn till afternoon.
In order to fix responsibility, the BMC appointed a contractor for the collection, transportation and disposal of garbage in R Central (Borivali), R South (Kandivali) and R North (Dahisar), wherein the private contractor provided his own vehicle, labourers and garbage bins to ensure waste collection to waste disposal.
But things haven't quite gone to plan. Vidyarthi Singh, corporator from Borivali, alleged that since the new contractor was appointed, garbage lifting has suffered. "I saw garbage being piled up on many roads till afternoon. The contractor is sending only two labourers with a mini compactor, or a maximum of four labourers with a dumper. How can two or three men lift six tonnes of garbage?" Singh asked.
The civic body's decision of assigning all work to a single contractor didn't even go well with the BMC's own conservancy workers. As they went on a flash strike last week, they alleged that handing over these projects to private parties would mean they lose their jobs.
Dahisar corporator Kamlesh Jadhav had similar complaints to those made by Singh. "For the last three days, garbage was lying untouched in many parts of the ward," he said.
Vishwas Shankarwar, deputy municipal commissioner of the solid waste management (SWM) department, said the contractor is obliged to clear the garbage on time regardless of the number of labourers deputed to do the job. "Due to the one-day flash strike, there was garbage piled up at many locations, which is being cleared," said Shankarwar, adding that in a week's time, these problems will be streamlined.
DUMPING GROUNDS OF MUMBAI
The City currently has three dumping grounds, of which two are about to be shut
Mulund
24 Hectares, in use since 16 years. BMC awarded a contract to close it last month
Deonar
131 Hectares, in use since 51 years. BMC is looking for waste to energy project.
Kanjurmarg
65 Hectares, in use since four years. Only dumping ground to be in use
