The Department of Urban Development has issued two show-cause notices to the Mangaluru City Corporation (MCC) over issues related to solid waste management.
The latest notice, issued on September 27, 2023, questioned the corporation for tweaking the process of bidding floated for selecting a new contractor to collect and transport the solid waste generated in the city to the compost plant at Pachchanady. It questioned how the civic body invited bids in four packages without the approval of the government.
The notice said that the government, on January 16, 2023, had given administrative approval for one detailed project report (DPR) relating to solid waste management (collection and transportation). The government wanted to know on what basis this project was split into four packages and bids were invited without the approval of the government. It said the bids invited did not have the provision for street sweeping and did not include other required components. The government also questioned the tenure of the contract fixing for only one year.
Incidentally, the civic body was served with the notice a day after the council of the corporation in its meeting on September 26 resolved to drop the bidding process initiated to select new contractors for a one-year term under four packages by dividing 60 wards into four zones.
Another notice, issued on August 7, 2023, pertained to the civic body seeking an extension of the contract period of Antony Waste Handling Cell Pvt. Ltd, which collected and transported garbage of the city for the corporation, from August 1, 2023 to January 31, 2024, for the third time. The government asked why the corporation could not complete the process of purchasing new vehicles and appointment of ‘pourakarmikas’ (sanitation workers) by July 31, 2023 as the government had extended the solid waste management contract of the company till July 31, 2023. It said that the government had extended the contract of the company (till July 31) with the condition that the civic body should purchase the new vehicles and appoint sanitation workers by then.
