The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) office
Credit: DH Photo
Bengaluru: The BBMP has awarded a contract to a private agency to transport up to 500 tonnes of waste from 15 wards to a processing plant on the city's outskirts.
The decision has drawn criticism from the BBMP's garbage contractors' association, which noted that the civic body selected the agency without floating tenders. The work order is valued at approximately Rs 1.4 crore per month.
In an order issued on May 31, Basavaraj Kabade, Chief General Manager of Bengaluru Solid Waste Management Ltd, approved MSGP Infratech Pvt Ltd to collect waste from 15 wards under the BBMP's East and Yelahanka zones.
MSGP Infratech, which operates a processing plant near Doddaballapur, is allowed to start the work on Saturday.
The order banks on the direction issued by BBMP Chief Commissioner Tushar Girinath to entrust secondary transportation of wet waste to the company. "The service charges paid shall be 1% less than the lease quote finalised in the tendering packages for 243 wards of the BBMP with respect to secondary transportation," Girinath’s order stated.
The commissioner's directive follows a Karnataka High Court order, directing the BBMP to take appropriate decisions on merits and communicate the same to MSGP Infratech Pvt Ltd in February 2020.
The BBMP garbage contractors' association said the civic body has misconstrued the high court order to violate the transparency rules.
“The work has been awarded on an ad hoc basis without fixing the number of vehicles, the tenure of the contract and collecting bank guarantee. There is no penalty clause either,” said SN Balasubramaniam, general secretary of the association.
In its defence, Kabade said the civic body has followed the high court orders.
“In the original government order, there was a clause for providing transportation of 500 tonnes of waste along with operating the processing plant. Number of vehicles will remain the same as it is now. The price arrived at is 1% lower than what we are paying to other contractors,” he said.
Balasubramaniam said the association would approach the high court against the BBMP’s decision.
“When the final rates of tenders involving 89 packages (comprising 243 wards is yet to be finalised, how can the BBMP fix the service charge to one firm?, he said. He also suspected that the board’s consent was not taken before issuing the orders.