The Hindu 27.11.2013
Corporation may outsource sanitary work in 18 wards
Agency to be entrusted with the upkeep of storm-water drains
Faced with a severe shortage of manpower, the
Tiruchirapalli City Corporation has proposed to outsource sanitary
operations and solid waste management in 18 wards in the city, including
the Central and Chathram bus stands and the Gandhi Market, as a pilot
project.
As per the proposal, sanitary workers from
contracted private agencies were to be deployed for sanitary work and
solid waste management in wards 8 and 9 and the Chathram Bus Stand in
Srirangam zone; wards 7, 28, 29, 61, 62, and 64 and the Gandhi Market in
Ariyamangalam zone; wards 35-39, 63 and 65 and the Central Bus Stand in
Golden Rock zone; and wards 40, 41, and 45 in K. Abishekapuram zone.
The
workers would be engaged in primary collection of the garbage from the
two bus stands, Gandhi Market, and 77,262 households in the 18 wards
every day, segregate them at source into degradable and non-degradable
waste and transport them to the corporation garbage dump. They would be
required to clean the streets and storm-water drains in the wards.
The
private agency would be required to clean and maintain the 21.25-km bus
route roads in the 18 wards on a daily basis by using road sweeping
machines.
Although the corporation has previously
attempted to privatise sanitary work on a smaller scale covering the bus
stands and the market, this is the first time that the initiative was
planned on such a large scale in the city.
The move
was expected to kick up much dust at the Corporation Council, which
would consider an official proposal on the matter on Wednesday.
The
civic administration justified the move pointing to the shortage of the
sanitary workers, the rise in population, and expansion of the
geographical spread of the city.
The city, spread
over 167.23 sq km, has a population of 9.16 lakh and about 2.33 lakh
households and 256 slums. Roads for 1,293 km and 776 km of storm-water
drains had to be maintained by the civic body.
Solid
waste management in the city was currently handled by 1,655 sanitary
workers against the standard requirement of 3,636 workers.
The
corporation had not been able to go in for recruitment given the
government stipulation that the outgo on staff salary and pension could
not exceed 49 per cent of the local body’s annual revenue.
Hence, there was no option but to go in for outsourcing, the officials said.