Delhi: South MCD forms committee to audit waste management concessionaires

The order to form a panel that will audit records from the last three months, was issued after unanimous approval from the standing committee of the civic body

The South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) has constituted a committee to probe the billing and auditing of private concessionaires managing municipal waste collection and transportation in its zones.

Several standing committee members recently highlighted that while the agreement of the local body with the private companies stipulates strong penal provisions and fines in case of violations and absence of mandated machinery/manpower, the sanitation department has rarely imposed these provisions. (HT Archive)

The order to form a panel that will audit records from the last three months, was issued after unanimous approval from the standing committee of the civic body. Col BK Oberoi (retd), the standing committee chairman, said that the committee will also comprise councillors from other zones and Opposition members.

Several standing committee members recently highlighted that while the agreement of the local body with the private companies stipulates strong penal provisions and fines in case of violations and absence of mandated machinery/manpower, the department of environment management services (DEMS), or sanitation department, has rarely imposed these provisions.

Col Oberoi (retd) said that the municipal commissioner and deputy commissioners have been directed to submit the records from the last three months.

“We will look into the issues that are affecting solid waste management. According to the agreement, private concessionaires are expected to have a certain number of garbage collection and transportation vehicles as well as enough manpower. If the vehicles are not present, then the billing should reflect it. We will crosscheck these records with the area councillors and fix accountability,” he said.

Tulsi Joshi, standing committee member and representative from RK Puram ward said that in the zonal meetings, a majority of councillors have raised the issue of vehicles breaking down and norms being flouted, but the department has taken no action.

Joshi said that according to the agreement’s Clause 108, there is a penalty on non-repair of damaged dhalaos and the sanitation department should submit a list of dhalaos to the company.

“We have asked for communications about damaged dhalaos to be submitted to the committee. Moreover, the agreement states that there will be a penalty of ₹500 per day per garbage-lifting rickshaw. Twenty-five units are not working in our zone. Similarly, out of 264 auto-tippers, around 45-50 are non-operational in our zone. There is a penalty of ₹25,000 per day for not cleaning one dhalao. The penalty for our zone alone totals ₹2.6 crore, but such penalties are not being issued despite so many shortfalls,” she said.

Suresh Kumar, the municipal councillor from Khanpur, said that he has been facing similar problems.

Councillors from Bharatiya Janata Party and Aam Aadmi Party have agreed to form a panel to look into the billing and penalties. The three-member committee will be headed by the standing committee chairperson and will comprise one member each from AAP and BJP.

All four zones under SDMC are now managed by private concessionaires, three out of six zones under the north corporation are managed by private companies, and the east corporation has also outsourced garbage collection in both its zones to private companies. BS Vohra, who heads the east Delhi residents’ welfare association (RWA) joint front, said that they have not noticed any change in garbage collection in their area. “The same auto-tipper has been making visits in our area for several years,” Vohra said.

Atul Goel, who heads URJA -a collective body of RWAs, said that the accountability in managing waste can’t be fixed unless residents are involved in the oversight mechanism. “An independent committee should probe the shortcomings. We have been arguing for safai nigrani samitis-- local area committees at the ward level which have RWA representation. There should be a structured mechanism to monitor the functioning by default,” he added..