Mumbai civic body’s garbage transport proposal passed by Sena, even as BJP cries foul

Despite the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) strong opposition to a garbage transport proposal at the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s (BMC) standing committee on Thursday, Shiv Sena along with the support of opposition parties sanctioned the proposal.

BMC had tabled a proposal to appoint new contractors for collection and transport of garbage in Dahisar, Borivali, Kandivali and Mulund for a period of seven years. BJP said the tender was inappropriately set by the solid waste management officials and demanded a probe.

Prabhakar Shinde, BJP corporator, alleged that the estimates of the proposal had been escalated by 112% to favour the contractors, with total cost of four wards at ₹568 crore.

Vijay Singhal, additional municipal commissioner, said, “The final estimates of the garbage transport and collection work is appropriate. We want one contractor to handle each ward. The firm is expected to ensure that the conditions of the contract are fulfilled, failing which penalties will be levied on the contractor.”

The contractor has been tasked with additional duties of eliminating public garbage collection points within six months and starting a toll-free number to address complaints related to garbage accumulation.