CHENNAI: Garbage conservancy will soon be outsourced in four more Chennai Corporation zones. However, the civic body has not finalized the bidder for taking over the operations.
A few weeks ago, conservancy work in seven corporation zones was outsourced to a Spanish firm named Urbaser SA and another firm named Sumeet Facilities.
Addressing reporters here earlier on Friday, after distributing raincoats to conservancy workers ahead of the monsoon season, Corporation Commissioner G Prakash said 11 out of the 15 zones will no longer be under the Public-Private-Partnership model and only the four remaining zones will be monitored by the civic body.
“Zone 1 (Thiruvottriyur), Zone 2 (Manali), Zone 3 (Madhavaram) and Zone 7 (Ambattur) will go under the PPP model,” Prakash later told The New Indian Express.
He said that the bidders have not been finalized and discussions are still going on. “We are negotiating with the bidder,” he said.
He said that measures were taken to involve public participation for effective conservancy work under the PPP model. “Various measures like door-to-door meetings and ward level meetings will be held with the public for better awareness,” said Prakash.
He said that in the next four to five months, all the manually pedaled tri-cycles will be replaced with battery operated vehicles. “The aim of the corporation is to ensure 100 percent automated vehicles in the next four to five months,” Prakash added.
The performance of the contractors would be evaluated by a third party and salaries will be given to staff only after that. The third party will also monitor the way waste is collected.
Prakash said that timings also will be allotted and fixed by the firms so that people will know when the battery operated vehicle comes exactly.
“The firms will have specific vehicles for all types of streets and apartments, whether small or big, from an 18-ton weight-carrying compactor to a 500-ton capacity vehicle,” he said.
Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami on September 30 launched the first leg of the privatization process. In this, seven zones - Teynampet, Kodambakkam, Valasaravakkam, Alandur, Adyar, Perungudi and Sholinganallur - were privatized in a contract for eight years at a cost of ₹447 crore per year.
The firms would deploy 92 compactors of various sizes, 21 mechanical sweepers and 1,931 e-rickshaws for door-to-door household waste collection in the 86 divisions.
Presently, only four zones - Tondiarpet, Royapuram, Thiruvika Nagar and Anna Nagar - are still under the civic body’s direct watch.