Manesar’s waste woes go on: Agency ‘forged’ documents for tender

For the past 12 months, MCM has been relying solely on hiring tractor trolleys to collect household waste, which is then temporarily dumped at the Sector 8 landfill

Manesar and its handling of its waste management system have been dealt a fresh blow, with a right to information (RTI) query revealing that a firm that was selected for the collection and transportation of garbage was allegedly operating with forged documents, people aware of the matter said on Monday.

Waste dumped along National Highway 48 in Manesar, Gurugram on Monday. (HT Photo)

Till 2023, Manesar had an efficient door-to-door waste collection and transportation system in place, managed through a comprehensive tender. However, for the past 12 months, the Municipal Corporation of Manesar (MCM) has been relying solely on hiring tractor trolleys to collect household waste. This waste is then temporarily dumped at the Sector 8 landfill. The situation has become dire as there is currently no official agency responsible for waste collection.

In February this year, MCM floated a ₹13 crore tender for the collection, transportation, processing, and disposal of waste for a period of one year. Initially, 12 companies participated and after a 21-day period for the reading and surveying of the tender details, five companies qualified technically.

However, controversy arose when discrepancies were discovered in the documentation of the lowest bidder, leading to significant delays and public dissatisfaction.

On March 4, a committee chaired by then CM Manohar Lal Khattar discovered that the ₹6 crore enlistment certificate of the lowest bidder, Gurugram-based NJ Enterprises, was signed by the superintendent engineer of the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) – an official who could not issue certificates for amounts exceeding ₹50 lakh.

An enlistment certificate used in the tender process which contains an identification number and value in figures of the previous work done by the agency.

A senior MCM official said that the file for the enlistment certificate had come to MCG, and they technically qualified it without verifying the documents, adding that no detailed investigation was carried out by them.

On March 4, Khattar instructed MCM commissioner Ashok Garg to issue a speaking order on the matter, but despite multiple notices to NJ. Enterprises, no response was received.

Later, an RTI filed by a Delhi resident revealed that the certificate in question was never issued by the MCG superintendent engineer.

HT has seen a copy of the RTI reply.

By June 30, no action had been taken on the speaking order, with officials citing election-related delays, despite elections concluding on June 4. This prolonged inaction left Manesar residents facing inconsistent waste collection services.

Questions also arose as to why Manesar was not included in the state’s Solid Waste Environment Exigency Programme (SWEEP) issued in light of orders from the Supreme Court and National Green Tribunal, even though the scheme covers all other civic bodies in Gurugram district.

Finally, on July 1, MCM cancelled the tender and reissued a fresh tender. However, there is no mention of any action against NJ Enterprises for submitting fraudulent documents.

Garg said that since the forgery was discovered during the scrutiny of documents, the tender was cancelled. “Since MCM did not suffer any loss, we did not take any action but cancelled the tender,” he said.

HT reached out to NJ Enterprises, and its proprietor Vipin Yadav said that his bid was rejected as he could not qualify for the tender. “They wanted enlistment of previous work and I was already working in Gurugram, so I attached the work order but due to the higher amount, they cancelled the tender,” he said.

He, however, did not respond to queries about the alleged forged documents.

Meanwhile, resident groups have come out in arms against the lack of action against the private connoisseur, which they believed indicated collusion between officials and the agency.

Meghraj Yadav, a resident of Emaar Pal Hills in Sector 77, said that despite knowing about the forgery and having evidence, no action was taken against the company. “Why was the company saved, and only the tender was reissued?... Why did the authorities try to save the company,” he said.