BBMP and garbage contractors battle while Bangalore loses

BBMP and garbage contractors battle while Bangalore loses
Basavaraj Itnaal
Monday, October 20, 2008 20:39 IST
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While BBMP and garbage contractors fight it out in court, the city has to put up with the piling consequences

BANGALORE: The Karnataka High Court observed on Friday that BBMP should provide adequate landfills to contractors for waste disposal.

BBMP says that they are not satisfied with the quality of service delivered. The contractors say that they were not provided with enough landfills for disposal.

Contractors also say that they are being harassed by BBMP, which is withholding payments. BBMP has mooted for fresh tenders to clear garbage, though the agreement with the vendors is for three years. The contractors took BBMP to court in August, 2008.

Sources at BBMP say that the rift is about kickbacks. The medical officers of health (MoH) of all the 30 ranges were supposed to pass the bills. But now zonal health officers want to have a say as each zone passes Rs 7-8 crore bills every month.

In September 2005, BBMP divided the task into 30 packages and awarded contracts for Rs 90 crore a year. This was about 300 per cent more than the amount spent by BBMP on garbage disposal.

The increase was opposed by former mayor and MLA K Chandrashekar in the assembly. Allegations were made that BBMP had contracted all the 30 packages to a single family. Chandrashekar had also told the house that the estimates were rigged.