KRC proposal likely to dominate new MMC council meet

MARGAO: The first meeting of the new council of the Margao municipal body will be held on Thursday and issues pertaining to garbage collection are likely to dominate the proceedings of the meeting.

Sources in the Margao Municipal Council (MMC) informed that the proposal of the Konkan Railway Corporation (KRC) to reduce the garbage collection fees levied on it by the civic body is one among the subjects listed in the agenda.

Sources informed that the MMC had raised a bill of ` 5,94,000 towards garbage collection charges for the period from November 30, 2007 to August 30, 2010. The bill pertains to collection of garbage generated at the KRC’s Margao railway station. Calculated at ` 600 per day, the amount worked out to ` 18,000 per month.

The bill amount was disputed by the KRC which urged the MMC to consider reducing the garbage collection fees. In a letter to the MMC by the senior regional traffic manager, the KRC proposed that the MMC reduce the fees to Rupees 100 per day. The issue will be placed before the council for an appropriate decision.

Sources in the MMC informed that the drastic reduction in the fees proposed by the KRC is unlikely to find favour with the city fathers. The KRC’s Margao railway station houses several commercial units, including a number of eateries, and generates garbage of about 0.5 to 1 ton per day. “The steep reduction in the fees as proposed by the KRC will throw the economics of the garbage collection system of the MMC out of gear,” a knowledgeable source within the MMC informed. Several other issues pertainingto hike in garbage collection allowances of the sanitary workers will also be discussed at the meeting, sources informed.