ROURKELA: Amid the tug-of-war between two groups of councilors of the 20-member Rajgangpur municipality, the residents of the cement town continue to suffer with the sanitation becoming the ultimate casualty.
A group of eight councilors led by municipality vice-chairman Md Irfan has been staging protest since November 27. They are opposing the decision of the municipality council led by chairperson Madhuri Lugun to extend sanitary services to a private agency for one year without calling for a fresh tender. Both chairman and vice-chairman belong to BJD.
Irfan said sanitation services were privatised last year with appointment of a private agency at a tender value of Rs 6.22 crore. The one year tenure ended on October 31 but despite poor services by the agency, no fresh tender was floated and the same agency was given a year’s extension.
He claimed that the civic body previously used its own resources and manpower and spent around Rs 25 lakh every month which provided relatively better results. After the last year’s tender, the monthly spending towards sanitary services was around Rs 52 lakh per month, he said.
Irfan claimed sanitation of the town has virtually collapsed with piles of garbage not getting removed for days, drains clogged and non-application of disinfectant or mosquito larvicide oil. On October 27, he and seven other councilors met the Sundargarh collector who assured them of floating fresh tender in a month but in vain.
While the chairperson claimed the extension was given following due procedures, executive officer Gobinda Dandasena did not respond to calls for comment.