MADURAI: The Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPM) has urged the state government and the Madurai Corporation to immediately terminate the solid waste management contract awarded to private firm “Ourland”, alleging large-scale irregularities in garbage collection operations across the city.
The corporation comprises 100 wards following the expansion of 28 wards in 2011. In 2023, the corporation floated tenders for conservancy operations across all wards and subsequently awarded the contract to Ourland. However, sanitation issues in the city have continued to draw criticism, with Madurai ranking last among 40 cities in last year’s Swachh survey rankings.
The CPM submitted petitions to commissioner Chitra Vijayan and Deputy Mayor T Nagarajan demanding cancellation of the contract and action against the company over lapses in waste management.
CPM Madurai district secretary M Ganesan alleged that the corporation administration had failed to appoint adequate sanitation workers despite the city’s growing population.
“With more than 15 lakh residents living within corporation limits, nearly 6,000 workers are required for sanitation, underground drainage maintenance, drinking water supply, waste management, road maintenance and streetlight operations. However, sufficient sanitation workers have not been appointed,” he said.
Ganesan further alleged that the private firm was contracted to clear 950 tonnes of waste daily at a rate of Rs 3,500 per tonne, but was lifting only around 750 tonnes per day.
He also claimed that nearly 200 tonnes of mud, stones and other materials were allegedly mixed with garbage to inflate the total waste quantity, causing financial losses to the corporation. Claiming that the discrepancies had already come under the corporation’s scrutiny and were highlighted in media reports, Ganesan alleged that the civic body was incurring losses of nearly Rs 7 lakh per day. He demanded recovery of the alleged losses from the company. The CPM also called on the corporation to directly recruit sanitation workers for all 100 wards and carry out conservancy operations through its own workforce instead of relying on private contractors.
Corporation officials, meanwhile, said solid waste management operations were being monitored and assured that the complaints would be examined.