Bengaluru: The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has decided to utilize garbage vehicles of contractors on a rental basis till the civic body puts alternative infrastructure in place. A committee will be constituted to fix the rent for garbage vehicles.
The decision was taken on Monday after Bengaluru Development Minister K.J. George met the contractors.
The BBMP needs around 450 compactors and 6,000 autos for garbage management in the city. The civic body has only 72 compactors. The rest is taken on rent from contractors.
The BBMP is finding it difficult to free itself from the clutches of contractors, who have been using their vehicles as a bargaining chip and holding the city to ransom, with two flash strikes in the last one month.
Civic officials said the renting of vehicles will be for a temporary period as the civic body transitions to direct payment for conservancy workers, most likely from November 1. “In the first phase, we will implement biometric attendance on a pan-city level to clean up the conservancy workers rolls. In a month, we will begin direct payment,” said Sarfaraz Khan, Joint Commissioner, Solid Waste Management of BBMP.
According to senior civic officials, at least two auto manufacturing firms are ready to take over the operations and management of garbage collection. There is a precedent. “In Hyderabad, the corporation directly pays conservancy workers while a private firm has bagged the contract for operations and management, including vehicle infrastructure. We will work on the same model and call for a global tender,” a senior official said.
