On Sunday night, villagers near the Mavallipura landfill woke up to the noise of moving trucks and frantic activities.
Noticing the trucks, they initially thought it was some bulk waste generators dumping garbage illegally in the dead of the night at the massive landfill, which was closed down 10 years ago.
“We enquired with the officials, who said they are only shifting the 10-year-old waste to Mitiganahalli,” a villager said. A few of them alerted DH about the activity and even clicked photographs.
It then became evident that the civic authorities are embarking on a shortcut they have been specifically asked to avoid. Emptying an old landfill to a new place for mixed waste is a major work that requires tendering, or at least a detailed project report, as required by the Karnataka Transparency in Public Procurement (KTPP) Act.
“There should have been a DPR or a tendering process through the Karnataka Rural Infrastructure Development Limited (KRIDL),” admitted a BBMP official who did not wish to be named.
He added that the work to shift the waste would cost Rs 6 crore. But Basavaraj Kabade, executive engineer, Project Central-5 and SWM, insisted that the work has been taken up through KRIDL due to an emergency situation following a court order.
“The work wouldn’t cost more than Rs 2 crore. The Mavallipura landfill is estimated to contain about 1.5 lakh tons of waste, of which we are transporting 60,000 tons to the Mittiganahalli quarries,” Kabade said.
A contractor questioned the need to take up work through KRIDL. “It’s not an emergency work,” he added. “They had 10 years to float a tender to clear this. What they are doing is unfair,” he said.
Mayor Gangambike Mallikarjun said she was not aware of the work. “I didn’t get a letter that the work is being carried out,” she said.