Garbage crisis, audit reports dominate MCD Standing Committee’s 4-hour meet

One of the key proposals approved was a new policy to use under-utilised MCD community halls for vocational training and skill development.

A marathon four-hour meeting of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi’s (MCD) standing committee on Wednesday was dominated by discussions on the garbage crisis in several parts of the city, even as the panel cleared at least 16 policy proposals and took up the long-pending audit reports that were delayed due to the non-formation of the committee for over 2.5 years.

Officials attributed the disruption to the expiry of long-term waste management contracts and said the interim concessionaire appointed for six months lacked sufficient machinery and bins.

Standing committee chairperson Satya Sharma said that one of the key proposals approved was a new policy to use under-utilised MCD community halls for vocational training and skill development. “MCD has a total of 278 community halls, out of which 122 are either lying vacant or are underutilised. These halls will now be used between 3 pm and 8 pm for imparting employment-oriented training to local youth and women,” she said.

Much of the discussion centred on mounting waste at open dumps and collection failures in the Central and West zones. Raj Pal Singh, councillor from Sriniwaspuri, flagged problems in areas such as Maharani Bagh, Gadhi and New Friends Colony. “A former chief justice has sent videos of waste dumps seen in his morning walks. People are protesting at our houses. The new company is unable to collect waste, and the whole area is suffering,” he said.

Officials attributed the disruption to the expiry of long-term waste management contracts and said the interim concessionaire appointed for six months lacked sufficient machinery and bins. They assured that improvements would be visible next month. Sharma added that private concessionaires showing negligence must face penalties under contractual provisions.

The committee also briefly discussed shortcomings of mechanical road sweepers (MRS), with several members alleging that the expensive units were lying idle and demanding their live locations be shared publicly.

Verbal spat

The meeting turned heated after a Bharaitya Janata Party (BJP) member accused a deputy commissioner of corruption, prompting a verbal spat. Commissioner Ashwani Kumar intervened, remarking, “MCD has a long tradition of theft, extortion and blackmailing. An excuse is used that money has to be paid to higher-ups… Officers should not become tools in the hands of blackmailers. We will not tolerate this kind of blackmailing. Delhi Police and CBI are there for investigation. Is this how we conduct a meeting? Nothing has been discussed on the agenda, and this blackmailing is being carried out, and our office will keep listening. There should be some shame.”