The Hindu                 22.12.2011

Civic body to privatise sanitation works, maintenance of drainages

Special Correspondent

The Tiruchi Corporation has decided to privatise
maintenance of drainage channels and sanitation works at the Central and
Chathram bus stand and Gandhi Market in the city in view of the
shortage of sanitary workers in the civic body.

The
corporation, a few years ago, had privatised sanitation works at the bus
stands and the Gandhi Market. The corporation took back the
responsibility after the performance of the agencies contracted for the
task was not found up to standards. Nevertheless, the civic body has
decided to make another attempt. The move to privatise maintenance of
drainages is being attempted for the first time in the city.

Resolutions
on the subjects were approved at an urgent meeting of the Corporation
Council chaired by Mayor A.Jaya here on Wednesday.

The
official resolution on the move to privatise maintenance of drainage
channels, pointed out that the city had a drainage network running for
total distance of 691.31 km, of which 676.66 km ran along bus route
roads.

Though the silt accumulation on the drainages
was being cleared by Corporation workers, the task could not be carried
out fully to the expectations of residents. Silt accumulation obstructs
the free flow of sewage and rain water, posing a public health hazard.

The
Council also approved, through another resolution, the privatisation of
sanitation works at the Central and Chathram bus stands, and the Gandhi
Market as well. The resolution said both the bus stands attracted a
heavy volume of traffic and passenger movement every day.

There
were over 400 shops at the Gandhi Market, generating a huge volume of
garbage. In view of the shortage of sanitary workers, it has been
decided to privatise the works.

Commissioner K.Veera
Raghava Rao, while responding to scepticism aired by a section of
councillors over the move, said the Corporation would learn from the
past experience and introduce stringent conditions to ensure the
agencies performed up to the level of expectations. Penalty clauses
could be introduced in the contract for poor performance, he said.

Mr.Rao
also informed the council that a new system of garbage collection and
transportation from the Gandhi Market was being worked out under which
garbage trucks would be stationed round the clock adjacent to the
market, so that the accumulating garbage could be transported to the
garbage dumping yard immediately.

Traders would be
requested to dump their garbage directly on to the trucks using
pushcarts and a couple of ramps would be built soon.