Ecogreen will continue to do garbage collection in Gurugram

The meeting also discussed a host of other issues, including the cleaning of rainwater harvesting pits ahead of the monsoon season, transplantation of saplings to green belts, and the taking over the upkeep of the master roads, among others.

During a house meeting on Monday at John Hall in Civil Lines, presided over by Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) commissioner Vinay Singh, it was decided to keep Ecogreen as the concessionaire for the door-to-door collection of waste and Bandhwari landfill for the time being, due to fear of piling up of the garbage and financial constraints. The meeting also discussed a host of other issues, including the cleaning of rainwater harvesting pits ahead of the monsoon season, transplantation of saplings to green belts, and the taking over the upkeep of the master roads, among others.

The house meeting was presided over by MCG commissioner Vinay Singh on Monday at John Hall. (Parveen Kumar/ht)

The house decided against removing Ecogreen as the concessionaire for the door-to-door collection of waste and the Bandhwari waste plant. The agenda of the house meeting had originally proposed to remove Ecogreen as the concessionaire, and hire a new agency instead.

“With monsoon arriving, removing Ecogreen will only compound to the problem. In addition, the MCG will also have to pay ₹227 crore as arbitration due to the contractual agreement with them, which would prove to be extremely expensive. I recently visited their office and took a close look at their online monitoring of door-to-door collection of waste, which was functioning smoothly,” said Singh.

Soon after Singh’s statement there was an uproar in the house, with councillors protesting that Ecogreen’s performance has been unsatisfactory as far as door-to-door collection was concerned.

“A committee will be formulated comprising councillors and officials within this week. They will be regularly visiting Ecogreen’s office and also carry out site checks to verify if the door-to-door collection of waste was functioning according to norms,” said mayor Madhu Azad, who was chairing the meeting.

Singh also revealed that only 174 of the city’s 627 rainwater harvesting pits could be cleaned before the monsoon. The remaining 453 pits would be cleaned only after the monsoon season is over.

“We need to set realistic targets rather than having farfetched goals. Currently, 174 pits are being cleaned in the city. The remaining will be cleaned after the monsoon ends,” said Singh.

During the house meeting, Devender Bhadana, MCG executive engineer of horticulture wing, also revealed that 35,000-40,000 trees and plants have been developed in the civic body’s four nurseries, all of which would be transplanted to green belts across the city.

The house also discussed the work of getting back all 23 master roads from Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA), due to the declining condition of the roads ever since their transfer. After Singh apprised the councillors that the GMDA is making heavy investment in fixing all 23 roads, councillors decided against passing the agenda.

The house also passed an agenda for officials to formulate estimates for establishing LED streetlights in parks in the city.

The agenda of providing sewerage connection in the 900-metre restricted area of the IAF ammunition depot was deferred for the next house meeting.