Congress MLA writes to Mumbai civic chief, alleges cartel in solid waste disposal work

Mumbai city news: Shaikh has demanded tenders be reinvited in such a way that there are at least two contractors in each of the 24 civic wards.

Congress MLA Aslam Shaikh has alleged existence of a cartel of contractors in the collection and disposal of solid waste in the city and wrote to municipal commissioner Ajoy Mehta about the issue on Tuesday.

Congress MLA Aslam Shaikh wrote to Ajoy Mehta (in pic) that inviting zone-wise tenders allows only a specific cartel of contractors to bid for the projects. (HT)

Shaikh has demanded that tenders invited for zone-wise collection and disposal of municipal solid waste be scrapped and instead tenders be reinvited in such a way that there are at least two contractors in each of the 24 civic wards.

Shaikh claimed that inviting zone-wise tenders allows only a specific cartel of contractors to bid for the projects. He also alleged corruption in weighing of waste at the dumping site and has demanded a thorough investigation into the matter.

He cited the Municipal Solid Waste Management manual of 2016 which states that at least two contractors be considered for every outsourced services in urban local bodies with a population of more than 1 lakh . “Considering this, at least two contractors should be appointed in each of the 24 wards,” said Shaikh in the letter.

He added, “Tenders invited are not uniform. The period for which the contracts are awarded varies between three and five years. Some tenders are for hiring of vehicles with labourers while others are without them.”