Guwahati Municipal Corporation staff arrests hit waste management plant installation plan

GUWAHATI: The recent arrests of eight Guwahati Municipal Corporation (GMC) officials for their alleged involvement in a Rs 20-crore civic works scam has put the brakes on the process of installation of a waste management plant at East Boragaon, on the outskirts of the city.
Once complete, it would be the first waste management plant of the city, which generates around 550 tonnes of waste every day,
At present, the civic body dumps the entire city’s waste on a 70 bigha landfill at Belor Tol in the East Boragaon area.
A GMC source said, “There has been some progress in the process of installing the plant. However, it has been halted for now after a few civic body officials were arrested last week in connection with a scam. The work will resume soon.”
Last week, the chief minister’s special vigilance cell arrested a GMC officer on special duty, finance and accounts officer and six executive engineers in connection with the scam. The accused had allegedly siphoned Rs 20 crore by submitting forged bills for desilting drains in the city from April 2 to May 26.