Despite objections to separate tenders for collection of different streams of waste from the 15-member committee headed by Mayor Gangambike, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has decided to go ahead with separate tenders.
The tenders have been opened, and senior civic officials said the response is ‘better than anticipated’.
Sources said that the BBMP had received as many as seven bids in many wards. “This is an indication of healthy competition, and that there are players willing to work on the ground,” said an official.
However, three wards have received no bids – D.J. Halli (ward no. 47), Neelasandra (116) and Shanthinagar (117), while some received only a single bid.
“We are yet to ascertain the exact number of wards that have received a single bid. We will decide on the next course of action after all the bids are opened and examined,” said a BBMP official.
The garbage tenders had been delayed, as the deadline to apply and for opening of bids was postponed several times.
Sources pointed out that the tender conditions were framed as per the mandate specified in the Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016, and after a detailed study.
The tender conditions were relaxed to ensure that new players could participate in the process. “The conditions were relaxed without any compromise on the requirements of the city. With the relaxed conditions, anyone committed to do the work could apply,” an official said.
“Both the Technical Guidance Committee and the earlier SWM Expert Committee had pointed out that the only way to solve the garbage issue in the city would be by ensuring that different streams of waste are handled by separate contractors. By avoiding collection of dry and wet waste by the same contractor, we hope to end aggregation of segregated waste,” said a civic official.