Mayor approves hiring of new waste management contractor

Problems with waste collection arose in the Central zone after the contract of its old operator expired, while in the West zone, where the contract is close to its termination deadline, the operator’s work is not satisfactory, a senior official said.

Mayor Raja Iqbal Singh has granted anticipatory approval for hiring a new concessionaire for waste management in the Central and West zones which have been facing problems in waste collection for more than a year now, officials said on Wednesday.

MCD areas are divided into 12 administrative zones and 250 wards which cumulatively produce around 11,000 tonnes of garbage every day. (HT ARCHIVE)

The concessionaire will be hired for a period of six months, senior municipal officials said.

“There were a lot of garbage-related complaints in these zones. We will get it approved in the MCD house. The projects are likely to improve the situation in both these areas,” the mayor said.

Problems with waste collection arose in the Central zone after the contract of its old operator expired, while in the West zone, where the contract is close to its termination deadline, the operator’s work is not satisfactory, a senior official said.

MCD areas are divided into 12 administrative zones and 250 wards which cumulatively produce around 11,000 tonnes of garbage every day. HT had earlier reported how parts of the Central zone were facing waste management woes due to the expiry of the contract of the previous contractor and MCD’s inability to hire a new concessionaire in the absence of the standing committee.

The key Central zone comprises many VIP areas and extends from Daryaganj-Pragati Maidan at one end to Kalkaji and Sarita Vihar at the other. It has 25 wards produce, and produced around 1,000 tonnes of waste daily. The wards include Daryaganj, Siddharth Nagar, Lajpat Nagar, Andrewsganj, Amar Colony, parts of Sangam Vihar, Kalkaji, Sriniwaspuri,Tughalaqabad and Sarita Vihar among other places.

The West zone refers to the area within the West Delhi district, and includes areas such as Kirti Nagar, Janakpuri, Vikaspuri, Punjabi Bagh, and Rajouri Garden.

According to officials, the estimated cost of hiring a new company for six months is likely to vary between ₹22-25 crore in each zone — a cost much higher than the ₹5 crore limit set for the MCD commissioner. Projects exceeding a budget of ₹5 crore need approval of the high-powered standing committee, which is yet to be formed.

A request has, therefore, been sent to the Delhi government’s “urban development department to consider enhancing the financial power of the commissioner for these two specific projects”, officials said.

The mayor said that the new BJP administration in MCD will also try to form the standing committee in the next month.

“In these next six months, we will float the larger tender for appointing a company over larger period of seven years,” an official aware of the matter said. MCD has also moved proposals to increase the financial power of the municipal commissioner for these two projects so that a contractor can be appointed for seven years.

“We have sent a request letter to the urban development department of Delhi government to consider enhancing the financial power of commissioner for these two specific projects. On similar lines, the Supreme Court had allowed six critical projects for which the financial power was increased,” a second official said. The proposal is likely to go from the urban development ministry to chief minister Rekha Gupta and finally to LG VK Saxena.

Last year, MCD carried out a tender process for the appointment of an operator in the Central zone under a 10-year project worth ₹1,200 crore. But the absence of the standing committee led to the process being scrapped. “It will be initiated afresh,” an MCD official said.