Indian Epxress 23.02.2010
VMC garbage collection vendors play truant, sell scrap
hitarthpandya Tags : corporation Posted: Tuesday , Feb 23, 2010 at 0700 hrs
Vadodara: The Vadodara Municipal Corporation (VMC) has plans to introduce a high-tech system to improve the door-to-door garbage collection process. But the staffs of the contractors tasked with the job of garbage collection have been found spending hours selling the garbage to scrap dealers at a time when they are supposed to collect garbage from the residential areas.It was recently that the general board decided to make changes in the door-to-door garbage collection process, citing irregularities. The board members had said that a system would be introduced where the concerned VMC officials would be able to monitor the movement of the garbage collection vans through Global Positioning System.
Meanwhile, The Indian Express visited certain areas in the western parts of the city and found that the scrap was being sold at Tandalja and near the Kalali road. The scrap vendors admitted that the money earned from the business was divided among the van operators, supervisors and the contractor. “They come here twice a day; around 11 am and 2 pm. As far as my shop is concerned, five to six vans come everyday and after segregating the garbage, sell us the plastic and other materials,” said Jagdish Thakor a scrap vendor. According to the vendors, the big scrap vendors enjoy a good rapport with the supervisor of the garbage collection services and make a lot more. “One can go to the main scrap vendor near VUDA flats in Tandalja where not less than 20 vans dump the scrap. The business runs into lakhs as the vendor is in the good books of the door-to-door collection contractor and the supervisors,” said a scrap dealer in Tandalja.
One of the van operators, when approached by The Indian Express said: “We do sell the scrap once the container is filled and the money is distributed as decided earlier. It does take a little more time, but than we rush back after selling the scrap. The only way we could manage the time is by not going to each and every residential society to collect the garbage. When complaints start pouring in, we visit those societies.”
Shailesh Naik, in-charge (Solid Waste Management) said: “I will certainly look into the matter if the van operators are involved in the scrap business. We are giving a lot of stress on time management and if the residential societies are being left out in the garbage collection process, we will pull up the contractor as well. Considering these problems, we will soon introduce the GPS system and that will bring an end to all these problems.”
