Ludhiana: With the civic body struggling to hire private firms for three of its major projects, revisiom of project costs has led to raised eyebrows. Officials have significantly raised estimated expenditure of three works — integrated solid waste management (ISWM), mechanical sweeping of main roads, and sweeping of internal roads.The cost of the ISWM project has been revised from Rs 1,144 crore to Rs 1,408.66 crore, while the cost of mechanical sweeping of main roads has risen to Rs 81.54 crore. For internal roads, the cost has been revised to Rs 70 crore.Officials claim the revisions were necessary due to changes made in the projects and because firms were unwilling to execute the work at the previous rates. In the annual MC budget for the upcoming year, Rs 100 crore has been allocated specifically for solid waste management. However, concerns remain about whether the MC is in a position to bear the financial load of these major projects — especially when doubts persist over whether the hired firm will be able to manage door-to-door garbage collection effectively. Currently, informal waste pickers handle collection in almost every locality.The tender document itself states that in areas where informal waste pickers are engaged in collection, their activities will be permitted to continue. However, if collection is not done in accordance with the agreement or to the satisfaction of the authority, the concessionaire will be responsible for arranging alternative or backup resources and managing the area in full compliance with the contract conditions. Informal waste collectors had earlier opposed the project, prompting authorities to amend certain terms.Under the revised plan, bell-to-bell garbage collection will cover up to the third floor of high-rise buildings, and bulk waste generators have been excluded from the scope of the project. The contractor has also been given an option to install a separate wet waste processing plant at the dump site.For internal lanes — covering approximately 2,500 km — the project cost has seen one of the steepest revisions. The earlier proposed cost of Rs 33.83 crore has now been increased to Rs 70 crore. For sweeping of main roads, the previously proposed cost has been revised to Rs 81.54 crore. Another major change in the tender is removal of the previous condition that funding for road-sweeping projects would come from the state govt’s finance department. The source of funding is no longer mentioned in the documents.Attempts to contact MC superintending engineer Sham Lal Gupta for comments were unsuccessful.MSID:: 129732296 413 |
