Mumbai civic body to act against contractors misusing sweeping machines

The BMC took this decision after issuing several warnings to contractors over their irregular work

Despite commissioning mechanised sweeping machines in some areas, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is receiving complaints of dirty roads from residents. The civic body has now decided to act on it and terminate contracts if there is no productivity.

The civic body had recently introduced these machines on roads in certain areas. (Pic for Representation)

It had recently introduced these machines on roads in certain areas including Marine Drive, BKC, Eastern Freeway and the Santacruz-Chembur Link Road.

The BMC took this decision after issuing several warnings to contractors over their irregular work. A senior civic official said, “There have been cases where residents have complained of litter lying unattended on the sides of the road despite regular sweeping. We are getting a daily report of their work and will initiate action accordingly.”

Around 12 machines have been assigned to sweep 50-km roads. The contractors are supposed to use four machines to clean 200 kms (four rounds on each 50-km road), however, there have been cases where the contractors have been using fewer machines. The official said, “Each and every movement of the mechanised sweeping machines on the 150km stretch is tracked by a Vehicular Tracking System (VTS). The contractors have been given a speed limit but we are getting cases where the contractors are crossing the speed limit in an attempt to quickly finish the work. We will start imposing penalty on such contractors.”

Speaking to HT, Vijay Singhal, additional municipal commissioner, said, “If we see no improvement in their work or their performance is unsatisfactory, we will start issuing termination letters to errant contractors and blacklist them.”