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Public Health / Sanitation


Garbage scam raises a stink

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Times of India 21.07.2009

Garbage scam raises a stink

Bangalore : Close on the heels of the Karnataka Housing Board scam comes yet another scam that has created quite a ruckus in the assembly.
Opposition parties have sought CBI probe into the Rs 100-crore garbage scam in the BBMP.

Raising the issue in the council, opposition leader V S Ugrappa distributed copies of an inquiry report, which stated that 30 medical officers, three health officers, 30 contractors and 26 BBMP employeeswere involved in the scam, causing a huge loss to the organization. The issue pertains to garbage clearance in the city between March 2007 and June 2008, during which time BBMP had paid around Rs 110 crore to contractors.

Demanding a discussion on the issue and CBI probe, Ugrappa said: "Chief minister B S Yeddyurappa is the Bangalore development minister. No action has been initiated against the guilty, even after eight months of obtaining the inquiry report. The CM has to take responsibility for this.''

As per the agreement, the contractor should have ensured the following functions -- road sweeping, garbage removal, removing silt from the drains, removing weeds, cleaning public toilets, removing garbage from vacant sites and removing illegal buntings and banners.

Suspecting goof-ups, the issue was handed over to Bangalore Metropolitan Task Force IGP N R Nadamani for investigation. Nadamani in his report in November 2008 had made the following observations:

* The officers and contractors have colluded and misappropriated money. The officers have failed in monitoring the effective removal of garbage and have not followed the prescribed procedures.

* Between March 2007 and June 2008, the contractors have encashed Rs 110.79 crore from the BBMP.

* The contractors have flouted norms and misappropriated crores of rupees. They have not done their job properly and not disposed garbage at designated sites. They have also failed to maintain a log book, keep track of labourers' attendance, PF details, and not issued salaries through cheques.

* 70% of the assigned work was not carried out in one of the packages. Recover 50% of the Rs 101.95 crore paid to the contractors. Also, recover Rs 8.84 crore from the contractors as they have not maintained logbooks to submit lead bills.

Admitting that corruption had become all pervasive, medical education minister Ramachandra Gowda said a re-inquiry had been ordered into the scam in February 2009 and they had received the report in May.
 

BMC panel passes plan for dumping site closure

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Times of India 21.07.2009

BMC panel passes plan for dumping site closure

MUMBAI: The BMC standing committee may have managed to escape the Bombay high court's ire by clearing a crucial Rs 4,408-crore proposal on Monday for the Deonar dumping ground's scientific closure. The same panel had earlier ignored repeated warnings from the judiciary for failure to come up with concrete steps for the dump site's development.

Pointing to the repercussions of yet another denial, committee members said they did not want to take any chances. "We will be implicated for contempt of court if we don't pass this proposal. The court is very clear in holding both bureaucrats and elected representatives responsible for playing with citizens' lives,'' said BJP corporator Ashish Shelar.

The committee had rejected the proposal, which was first tabled late last year. Fearing the high court's contempt proceedings against the BMC, the civic administration re-submitted the proposal last week. The court had slammed both the administration and the corporation for hampering citizens' "freedom to life'' by not doing their best to ease the woes of lakhs.

The court has initiated contempt proceedings against civic chief Jairaj Phatak for the BMC's failure to reduce pollution in and around Deonar. The Smoke Affected Residents' Forum had filed a PIL in 1996 demanding its closure. On June 7, an angry high court said the court had given numerous opportunities to the civic administration to rectify the situation, but it had repeatedly failed.

"Prima facie, it appears that apart from taking some superficial steps, the BMC has not made any concrete efforts. This is the last opportunity to the administration and related civic committees to bring about improvement. It is a matter of public health and we will not tolerate any further delay,'' the high court order read.

Mumbai generates 10,000 tonnes of waste a day, 70% of which is dumped on the saturated Deonar ground. The project would scientifically close half the ground and make the other half a sanitary landfill. The same public-private partnership model is to be repeated at Mulund and Kanjurmarg, helping ease the city's garbage woes

 

Trial run of new garbage collection scheme begins

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The Hindu 21.07.2009

Trial run of new garbage collection scheme begins

Staff Reporter

The two wards selected are Shalimar Bagh and Model Town

 


Involves collection and transfer of waste for recycling or compost production


NEW DELHI: The Municipal Corporation of Delhi started its much talked about door-to-door garbage collection scheme on a trial basis in two city wards here on Monday. The two wards are Shalimar Bagh in Rohini Zone and Model Town in Civil Lines Zone.

MCD Standing Committee chairman Ram Kishan Singhal said: “We were supposed to begin the scheme in its entirety in the Rohini and Civil Lines Zone by July 20, however that will take more time. The scheme’s official inauguration would only be possible in another month or so as we are likely to face opposition from local sweepers and trash collectors.”

“Under the trial system introduced on Monday, about 10 auto tipper vehicles equipped with hooters to announce their arrival went to localities in Shalimar Bagh and Civil Lines Zone and collected garbage. This garbage will be transported to the old landfill sites initially and once the new sanitary landfill sites are ready we would be transporting the entire garbage there and processing it to ensure minimum waste pile up,” he added.

Meanwhile, the civic body’s proposal to purchase 60 lakh bins to segregate solid waste at individual houses is still pending. The MCD will spend Rs.50.4 crore on providing green and white bins of 12-litre capacity to each house-owner.

The green bin will be meant for biodegradable waste and the white for recyclable waste. The bins will be purchased after calling tenders and distributed accordingly as part of the overall scheme.

The scheme involves collection of waste after primary segregation into biodegradable and non-biodegradable, transferring these to processing plants for recycling or compost production and sending the remaining parts to sanitary landfill sites. Auto-tippers will travel from door to door collecting garbage while the local dumping grounds known was dalaos will be phased out.

Last Updated on Tuesday, 21 July 2009 05:04
 

Garbage piles up in Thrissur

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The Hindu 21.07.2009

Garbage piles up in Thrissur

Staff Reporter

Lalur residents block dumping of waste in their area

PHOTO: K. K. Najeeb

IMPENDING DISASTER: Huge mounds of garbage remaining uncleared at the Sakthan Thamburan Market in Thrissur on Monday. —

Thrisur: Mounds of garbage piled up in every street corner have turned the city into a huge garbage dump leaving a stench at every place.

Residents of Lalur, the Corporation’s waste disposal site, blocked dumping of waste at the dumpyard demanding measures to pump out waste water from the trenching ground and nearby areas.

Waste water seeping from the flooded trenching ground had made life miserable for 40 families living in the area.

Their protest had a catastrophic effect on city life. Sanitation workers have not collected waste in the past six days in the Corporation area. Stray dogs and cattle feasting on heaps of garbage is a common sight even in posh localities. Scenes at Shakthan Thampuran Market are the same.

Opposition Leader in Thrissur Corporation I. P. Paul said the city was sitting on a time bomb.

“It is ticking fast. Outbreak of epidemics is feared. The public is already struggling to cope with diseases such as chikungunya, dengue and jaundice. Garbage piles are breeding grounds for disease-spreading vectors,” he said.

An all-party meeting convened on Monday to discuss the garbage disposal problem urged the Corporation to take swift action to solve the problems of Lalur residents.

“The problems faced by residents of Lalur should not be seen as a local issue. It should be addressed as a problem of the entire city. The Corporation should find a pragmatic solution,” the meeting said.

The meeting also suggested decentralisation of waste treatment. Instead of dumping the entire city waste at Lalur, arrangements should be made to treat it locally, the meeting noted.

Biogas plants should be erected at major market places and waste management systems should be made compulsory for flats and commercial establishments, the speakers demanded.

Deputy Mayor M. Vijayan said that steps had already been taken to pump out flood water from the trenching ground. Leaders of various political parties participated in the meeting.

Meanwhile, T. K. Vasu, chairman of the Lalur Malineekarana Virudha Samara Samithy said they would not give up their struggle until the Corporation found a lasting solution to the problem.

Last Updated on Tuesday, 21 July 2009 04:57
 

Twin cities to become cleaner

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The Hindu 21.07.2009

Twin cities to become cleaner

Staff Correspondent


For cleaner surroundings: Hubli-Dharwad Mayor Viranna Savadi (left) and other councillors walking through Gandhiwad locality in Hubli on Monday after the launch of the special cleanliness drive.

Hubli: The Mayor of Hubli Dharwad, Viranna Savadi, launched the special cleanliness drive in the twin cities on Monday in the wake of increase in the number of cases of chikungunya and dengue.

The Mayor formally launched the drive first at Gandhiwad off Gadag Road and then at Bankapur Chowk. Apart from senior officials of the Health Department, councillors of various parties including Deepak Chinchore, Altaf Kittur, Rajanna Koravi and others were present on the occasion.

It might be recalled that after an elaborate discussion on the lack of cleanliness in the twin cities during a special general body meeting, Mr. Savadi had announced that a special cleanliness drive would be taken up in all the wards.

He had said that there were as many as 115 personnel in the Health Department in each of the 12 zones in the corporation and all of them would be deployed for the special cleanliness drive in each ward for three to four days.

Accordingly on Monday the staff of the Hubli-Dharwad Municipal Corporation (HDMC) was divided into various batches and they took up cleaning in various localities .

On Monday, special cleanliness drive was carried out in Gardenpet, Desai Oni, Dora Galli, Mochi Galli, Cholinavar Oni, Shikkalagara Tanda, Walwekar Hakkala, Siddanapet and adjoining localities. Apart from clearing the drains and sweeping roads, fogging was extensively done to check the menace of mosquitoes. Pesticides were also sprayed at localities where it was found necessary.

Officials of the zone no. 11 of the corporation said that the cleanliness drive would be completed in all the wards of the zone by August 1.

Last Updated on Tuesday, 21 July 2009 04:44
 


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