The Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) has been generous towards
private firms. It has provided 41 tricycles, meant for waste collection
only in wards managed by BMC, to the wards where sanitation work has
been privatised.

Seven months back, the corporation had spent
close to Rs 12 lakh from its own resources to purchase 200 tricycles at
Rs  6,000 per piece.

Presently, the corporation is responsible for sanitation in 20 out of 60 wards in the city.

After
receiving a complaint, Chief Financing Officer-cum-Chief Vigilance
Officer of BMC probed into the matter and came across the anomaly in the
distribution of the tricycles.

According to sources in BMC, 41
tricycles were issued to the private ward numbers 2, 6, 28, 30, 44, 47,
48 and 54. Of the total 200 tricycles, 155 were distributed in 20 wards
under BMC and four were kept for other purposes.

Requesting
anonymity, a senior official said BMC should not have distributed the
tricycles in the wards where sanitation was being managed by private
firms.

Chairman of BMC sanitation committee explained that as per
the agreement, the private firms should not be given any of BMC
resources.

“The idea behind privatising sanitation in 40 wards was
to ensure better sanitation since BMC did not have the resources to
maintain all the 60 wards itself.

 The municipal corporation is also planning to privatise sanitation in 13 more wards from August,” said the official.

Contacted,
City Health Officer (CHO) Chandrika Prasad Das said he was not aware of
any such distribution. However, the CHO is the monitoring officer and
the tricycles are supplied under his supervision only.

“Everything
is not done with my approval or supervision. The tricycles were
distributed in the privately managed wards after commissioner’s
approval.

The store-keeper at BMC should be aware of the details about the distribution,” said Das.

The Capital generates about 400 tonne of solid waste on daily basis.