CHENNAI: Many corporates see gold in garbage. Chennai Corporation's decision to privatise garbage collection in 15 zones across the city has attracted eyeballs from India and abroad, with at least 17 companies vying for a piece of the 400crore pie. The civic body had already privatised conservancy operations in three of its zones - Adyar, Kodambakkam and Teynampet. However, the jury is still out on whether privatizing conservancy operations would mean a cleaner city.

In March, the civic body had decided to invite an expression of interest from companies willing to undertake conservancy operations in the city. At least 17 companies wanted to grab contracts for part of the 400 crore annual budget to dispose the city's solid waste.

Last month, the companies submitted proposals explaining their operations, technology and experience in the field to the civic body. On Thursday, the corporation council passed a resolution approving the shift to privatisation and said that though the civic body spends a huge chunk of its income on garbage operations, they don't earn anything from it in return. A private company is expected to be more efficient because they might risk losing their investments in case the civic body revokes their contract, they said.

Though the corporation seemed gung-ho about their latest move, residents were not so enthused. They said private or corporate companies may not necessarily mean a cleaner neighbourhood. "When Onyx took over, we did not have complaints. The streets were clean and our garbage was collected regularly. However, in the last five years, the situation has deteriorated rapidly," says Mohana Pai, a resident of Kasturibai nagar.

The locality in zone 13 (Earlier located in zone 10) is probably the only area in the city that where conservancy operations were undertaken by different organizations starting from Chennai Corporation, Onyx, Neel metal Fanalca and Ramky Enviro.

The corporation first experimented with privatization in 2000, when they outsourced garbage clearance in three zones-the present zone 9,10 and 13-- to Onyx Private Limited for five years. Success prompted them to continue with the decision and soon Neel Metal Fanalca and Ramky Enviro took over.

Lodging complaints is also becoming an issue. "The corporation has a proper helpline and website. Even six months after Ramky took over, we place our complaints with the civic body engineers who then give us Ramky's number," said Jhanvi Rao, a resident of T Nagar. While the civic body's reason behind the move is severe staff shortage, sources in the corporation say, it is a move to reduce the financial burden in the long-term.