Dispute over pending dues hits waste collection in Gurugram

Officials said the concessionaire has expressed its reluctance to collection garbage until its dues of nearly ₹43 crore is paid

Door-to-door garbage collection has been hit across the city since Thursdayover non payment of dues, pending since the past nine months, to waste collection concessionaire Ecogreen Energy by the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG), said municipal officials in the know of the matter.

The dispute over dues has repeatedly affected waste collection in Gurugram.

Officials said the concessionaire has expressed its reluctance to collection garbage until its dues of nearly ₹43 crore is paid.

The concessionaire also cited its inability to pay vendors and staff as a consequence of the MCG not making payment, and said this was leading to protests against Ecogreen.

Garbage,meanwhile, has started accumulating in heaps on roadsides and secondary points, turning the city into one giant dumping yard. The situation worsens when passing vehicles further spread the accumulated litter on to the roads, raising an awful stink.

Ecogreen is responsible for door-to-door collection of waste, which it then dumps at 35 secondary points. But with them not turning up to collect waste, residents have started dumping waste on the road, said MCG officials.

Tractors that transport waste from secondary points to Badhwari landfill are also on strike demanding pending payments from Ecogreen.

The tractor drivers claimed that they too have not received full payment since the past seven months and, hence, have stopped transporting waste. They said they will resume work only once their dues are cleared in full by the concessionaire.

MCG officials on Friday said they have called a meeting of private vendors and the concessionaire and have asked them to resume work from Saturday.

Pardeep Kumar, additional commissioner of MCG , said they have approved payment after the account department checked all the bills and it is likely to reach their bank on Saturday. “We have asked the concessionaire not to stop waste collection as we are in the process of clearing all dues,” he said

Officials said they identified all the spots where waste has been dumped since Thursday and got some of the areas cleaned on Friday with the help of tractor trolleys and earthmovers.

PC Meena, commissioner, MCG, said the concessionaire was give a part payment of ₹2.20 crore this April after the concessionaire stopped collecting waste, and another partial payment will soon reach its account.

“The pending bills are in dispute and cannot be cleared in full at the moment. We have asked them to submit their bills on time for smooth processing. The issue of non-collection of garbage was because most workers were on leave on account of Eid. We have alternative plans in case the concessionaire do not collect waste from the city,” he said.

MCG officials said the bills will only be cleared after checking site records and the accounts section will verify the invoices and clear the dues.

Nipun Jain, a resident of Sector 45, said the garbage littered on the roads of Sector 31 and in parking areas. “The situation is bad as waste from market areas and streets has not been collected since the past last two days,” he said.

Amit Goswami, a resident of Sector 10A, said the condition of roads and secondary points were in a shambles as garbage was littered all over. “We have written to the civic agency and have requested vendors to clean the stretch but to no avail,” he said.

Residents alleged that civic agencies, which were supposed to take up cleaning, have failed to lift garbage regularly. Officials said they are still struggling to streamline the waste collection system.

Suvendu Samantaray, general manager, operations, Ecogreen Energy Gurugram, said that as per the approved commercial operation date with urban local bodies, Ecogreen is entitled to get ₹1,000 per metric tonne of garbage collected and transported till October 2023. “MCG has not released our dues of the past nine months and is now offering to pay only ₹333 per metric tonne. We are facing a huge cash crunch and are struggling to pay staff salaries, fuel, and maintenance of vehicles. Our strike will continue until our dues are cleared,” he said.