The Hindu                 22.12.2011

Civic body to privatise sanitation works, maintenance of drainages

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.