The Hindu                          18.02.2013

A circular that will help BBMP save Rs. 20 crore

Chitra V. Ramani

The Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has the notoriety of spending more than what is required.

This would have also been the case in the proposal to set up Dry Waste Collection Centres (DWCCs) in all wards of the city had not BBMP Commissioner Siddaiah nipped it in the bud.

After many councillors started submitting estimates at a cost of even Rs. 50 lakh, raising the possibility of tax payers’ money being mis-utilised, Mr. Siddaiah issued a circular stating that setting up of DWCCs should not cost more than Rs. 10 lakh each.

At the recently concluded week-long exposition on waste management, Mr. Siddaiah committed to setting up DWCCs in all the 198 wards within the next three months. Around 60 DWCCs have been set up, while more are in the pipeline.

A senior official, on the condition of anonymity, told The Hindu that many councillors were submitting estimates to set up the DWCC in their respective wards.

“There are several councillors who are submitting inflated estimates. A few of them gave a proposal for a DWCC to be set up at a cost of Rs. 50 lakh,” he said.

The official claimed that by issuing the circular capping the maximum expenditure, the BBMP would be able to save around Rs. 20 crore

Waste management expert N.S. Ramakanth said that the Solid Waste Management Round Table had established a model DWCC at Freedom Park at Rs. 10 lakh.

“The model DWCC has a simple design. There is no need for an elaborate structure,” he said.

He said that all that is required is four walls, a sheet roof, toilets and water facility for the workers.

“There should be a concrete platform for the secondary segregation of the dry waste. This is where the rag pickers will sift through the dry waste and segregate it further into plastics, glass and other categories,” he said.

Mr. Ramakanth said that the design model could be easily adopted in all wards in the city. “For segregation at source to become mandatory, DWCCs are a must,” he added.

The Hindu    06.09.2012

South corporation frets over revenue loss

NEW DELHI: While the Punjab and Haryana high court order to suspend toll collection on the Delhi-Gurgaon expressway for 15 days has come a big relief for lakhs of commuters, the South Delhi Municipal Corporation is worried about the huge revenue loss that would run into crores of rupees.

The municipal toll tax collection from all commercial vehicles entering Delhi from NH-8 was being collected by the expressway contractor till Tuesday night. On Wednesday, the private concessionaire, municipal officials said, didn't collect municipal tax from commercial vehicles and this means the south corporation could have lost at least Rs 18-20 lakh in a single day. What has caused greater concern for other municipal bodies is that more commercial vehicles might try to avoid other inter-state entry points and take NH-8 since there is no mechanism to stop such vehicles.

The cash-strapped civic agency even had an urgent meeting with Delhi government officials on Wednesday evening and sources said that the municipal corporation would approach the Delhi High Court on this issue. "If this continues, the civic body will lose crores of Rupees in the next 15 days. The private concessionaire has to be directed to collect municipal tax from commercial vehicles,'' said a senior South Corporation official. A spokesperson of Delhi-Gurgaon Super Connectivity Ltd ( DGSCL) said that they have sought the Punjab and Haryana high court's views on this issue.

As per Supreme Court order all commercial vehicles entering Delhi have to pay tax to the municipal body and this is one of the key sources of revenue for civic agencies. The civic agency has outsourced the toll tax collection to the private concessionaire. In May last year, the erstwhile MCD had managed to get the highest bid of Rs 936 crore for three years. Sources said that stopping commercial vehicles to collect toll tax at Delhi-Gurgaon border would not be an easy task since the commercial vehicles can easily chose any of the 16 lanes to cross the plaza and doing that would also result hindering smooth movement of traffic. "That might be violation of Punjab and Haryana high court order," said an NHAI source .