Congress councillor and municipal corporation finance panel member Gaurav Bhatti on Monday mounted a fresh challenge to the proposed ₹1,400-crore solid waste management project as he turned up at the mayor’s residence with a cartload of garbage and launched an indefinite sit-in demanding withdrawal of the proposal.
Bhatti walked barefoot for nearly 12 km from his office to the mayor’s residence in Rose Garden before beginning the protest. He said he would continue the agitation until the proposal was withdrawn.
“I will keep protesting until this proposal is taken back. I won’t let it pass,” he said.
Bhatti has objected primarily to the estimated cost of the project and raised concerns over its potential impact on the city’s existing sanitation workforce.
He claimed around 15,000 families were currently associated with waste management in the city, ranging from private workers who collect garbage from doorsteps to those engaged at the processing plant.
According to Bhatti, the proposed system could leave a large section of these workers without a livelihood. He also questioned the financial viability of a project estimated to cost more than ₹1,400 crore, saying the Municipal Corporation could not afford such a large expenditure.
The dispute over the project had already come to a head during meetings of the Finance and Contracts Committee (F&CC) on Monday and Thursday last week. The proposal was not cleared at Monday’s meeting, while Thursday’s meeting ended without a consensus among the committee members.
{{/usCountry}}The dispute over the project had already come to a head during meetings of the Finance and Contracts Committee (F&CC) on Monday and Thursday last week. The proposal was not cleared at Monday’s meeting, while Thursday’s meeting ended without a consensus among the committee members.
{{/usCountry}}Mayor Inderjit Kaur maintained that she had the majority support in the F&CC and decided to place the proposal before the municipal corporation House for a vote.
She was unavailable for comment on Monday, while her office said she was busy resolving the standoff over the proposal.
Bhatti disputed the Mayor’s contention, saying only three of the five F&CC members were present at Thursday’s meeting, while the Senior Deputy Mayor and Deputy Mayor were absent. He argued that since a numerical majority of the full five-member committee had not approved the proposal, it could not be taken forward to the House.
Bhatti also warned that he would approach the court if the Mayor proceeded with the proposal without obtaining the requisite approval from the F&CC. He remained on sit-in outside the Mayor’s residence till 6.30 pm on Monday.
BJP seeks job security for sanitation workers
A delegation of Bharatiya Janata Party councillors led by BJP district president Sunil Maudgil on Sunday submitted a memorandum to the mayor raising questions over the
proposed ₹1,400-crore solid waste management project in the city. They demanded that jobs and interests of sanitation workers be protected before taking any decision.
The delegation also demanded transparency be maintained in the process and concrete measures be taken to ensure the job security of existing sanitation workers.