New Delhi: The Central Zone of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) is in the last month of its extended contract with Dakshin Dilli Swachh Initiatives Limited (DDSIL), the garbage collection company in charge of the area, with no new tenders in sight.
DDSIL’s tender expired in November 2022, and they have been working on a one-year extension since then, which will be completed by the end of October 2023.
No new company has been decided on till now to oversee the waste management of MCD’s Central Zone from November, and the area councillors are apprehensive of the situation since any new tender takes at least 2-3 months to be processed.
“1,000 tonnes of garbage is collected daily from the Central Zone, which has 25 wards, and all of that will remain unmanaged till a new company takes over. We have been repeatedly demanding answers from the Corporation and the Mayor but nothing has been notified to us yet,” said Ariba Khan, councillor of Abul Fazal Enclave, ward 188.
She raised the issue in the MCD House session on September 26, where the Mayor asked the officials and the
Commissioner to look into the matter and come up with a solution since due to legal restrictions, DDSIL’s contract
cannot be extended for
another year.
Two companies had been approached for the renewal of the tender in 2022 and February 2023, but nothing was finalised. Now, a new tender is required for 10 years which will amount to almost Rs 120 crore. According to Khan, this gives rise to another problem.
“The Commissioner can only sanction a budget up to Rs 5 crore. To approve a new tender with the extra amount, we will require the Standing Committee which still remains to be formed. We have had no communication from the Corporation about a new tender, and I do not understand how they will sanction such a large budget,” she said.
Apart from the expiring tender, the Central Zone councillors raised issues regarding the waste management in their wards.
“DDSIL has not been working properly since they know that they need not worry about another contract. Waste is not collected daily, and I have to personally call the company workers for action. Sometimes, garbage stays piled on the road for 2-3 days because the worker is not coming,” said one of the councillors.
The corporation is yet to respond to the issue.