The Times of India 18.06.2013
Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation to hand over garbage collection work to Ramky
HYDERABAD: Despite opposition from employee unions, the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) has decided to hand over door-to-door collection and transportation of garbage to Ramky's Hyderabad Integrated Solid Waste Management (HISWM) project soon.
To begin with, two zones - south and central - among the five zones of the corporation would be handed over to Ramky. Sources said an official announcement to this effect is likely to be made in a couple of weeks. Though collection and transportation of garbage was to be handed over to Ramky from June 1, the GHMC is reportedly working out a strategy on how to tackle the issue if workers protest again.
The corporation had several bids to hand over garbage generated in the city to Ramky as per the agreement entered in February 2008 for collection, transportation, treatment and disposal of solid waste for the past three months, but it did not go ahead due to workers' strikes and protests. Mayor Mohd Majid Hussain had announced that two circles in south zone would be handed over to Ramky for collection and transportation of garbage three months ago, but backtracked on his announcement after a day-long protest by the workers.
The Rs 434 crore Integrated Solid Waste Management project is being taken up by the GHMC under public private partnership (PPP) mode. Though Ramky and GHMC had entered into an agreement in 2008, only treatment and disposal of the waste was being implemented at Jawaharnagar dump yard. The project developer has been doing sanitary land fill, capping and treating the waste by constructing compost and leachate plants.
"As per the agreement, collection and transportation of garbage should begin within 180 days from the date of agreement. Treatment and disposal of the waste has to begin within two years of the agreement. But the collection and transportation has been kept in abeyance with opposition from employee unions. Earlier, independent engineer of the project, Environment Protection Training and Research Institute (EPTRI) also insisted that all activities begin simultaneously," an official of the solid waste management (SWM) of GHMC said.
As per the original plan, east and west zones have to be handed over to Ramky. However, the officials are reportedly keen on implementing the project in south and central zones where the generation of garbage is more.
Interestingly, the recognised union of Greater Hyderabad Municipal Employees Union gave a strike notice to the corporation on various demands like regularization of contract employees, house sites and other demands. They threatened to go on strike from June 18 if their demands were not met.
When contacted, GHMC additional commissioner (health and sanitation) L Vandan Kumar said that no date has been finalised on handing over collection and transportation of garbage to Ramky. On the strike notice, he said discussions were being held with the unions on the strike call.
