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After truce, private waste collectors in Chandigarh set to resume work today
The decision comes after the municipal corporation (MC) that has decided to take over waste collection softened its stand during back-to-back meetings with a seven-member delegation of waste collectors.
The City Beautiful reeling under garbage crisis for the past three weeks can finally heave a sigh of relief as private waste collectors have decided to resume door-to-door collection from Tuesday.
The decision comes after the municipal corporation (MC) that has decided to take over waste collection softened its stand during back-to-back meetings with a seven-member delegation of waste collectors on Monday.
According to the agreement, the civic body has decided to immediately withdraw its fleet of tractor-trailers. Also, the charges for door-to-door collection will be received by the waste collectors, as was the past practice, till the implementation of the new model — which mayor Davesh Moudgil claimed will happen within three to four months.
His tenure ends on December 31, just three months from now.
Meanwhile, Om Parkash Saini, who was heading the negotiations on behalf of waste collectors, said they have also got the rights of recyclable waste.
Moudgil said the waste collectors will be absorbed in the new system, as had been decided in the MC House meet on September 14. However, he did not clarify if as many as 5,000 people engaged in the work — as claimed by the waste collectors — will get jobs. The MC, so far, has promised jobs to only 1,447 registered waste collectors — the main sticking point.
Saini said the MC has promised to hold detailed talks with waste collectors before taking them on board.
MC to arrange resources first
Moudgil said private waste collectors will continue to collect garbage till the MC arranges its own resources. These include 250 twin tipper vehicles besides compactors to collect segregated waste and transfer it to the processing plant.
Meanwhile, the collectors have given it in writing that they would be collecting dry and wet waste separately and help the MC in its endeavour to make residents aware about it. The collectors’ failure to ensure segregation has been cited by the MC commissioner the main reason for taking over the work from them.
Saini said the waste collectors have no problem in segregating waste. “We have been open to it, but the MC did not listen to us,” he said.
The mayor said the waste segregation plan will kick off from Tuesday — Gandhi Jayanti — as decided earlier. The MC has already announced a two-month waiver from fine for failing to segregate waste, he said.
Congress seeks mayor’s resignation
Meanwhile, Congress’s Devinder Babla, who is the leader of opposition in the House, said the new system will never get implemented and sought the mayor’s resignation for plunging the city into mess. “They (Bharatiya Janata Party) wanted to outsource waste collection to a private agency for their vested interests. They backed out because of unrelenting protests,” he said.
Chandigarh Congress chief Pardeep Chhabra said the party leaders and workers will be joining waste collectors on Tuesday, as planned earlier, to show solidarity. However, the mayor cautioned the Congress from politicising the issue, stating the city is in a transition phase.
Meanwhile, Baljinder Singh Bittu, president of the Federation of Sectors Welfare Associations of Chandigarh (FOSWAC), said the MC’s Monday decision is the result of their “poor planning” as they did not create infrastructure before introducing reforms and finally returned back to the old system with little changes.
