MARGAO
Margao City Fathers gave their nod for the Rs 6.73 crore tender to appoint door-to-door waste collection contractors for the coming financial years, but made no forceful plea to set up a inbuilt mechanism wherein the private agencies are made to clear the dark spots and waste dumping along roadsides.
On the contrary, the City Fathers showered praised on the private agencies for their door to door waste collection and only made a passing reference to the uncollected waste at the dark spots.
In fact, when Chairperson Damu Shirodkar initiated discussions on the proposal seeking nod for floating of the tender for door to door waste collection at a whopping amount of Rs 6.73 crore in the financial year 2024-25, Councillor Sadanand Naik was overheard saying the proposal stands approved when the City Fathers were yet to speak their mind on the subject.
Participating in the discussion, former Councillor Ganashyam Shirodkar said the private agencies may be doing excellent job in the door to door collection of waste, but sought to know from the chair the number of black spots identified across the city. He also demanded to know the number of workers presently engaged by the two agencies and their mode of operation.
He also demanded to know the terms and conditions of the labourers engaged by the private contractors in the door to door waste collection.
Saying both the private agencies are doing good work, Chairperson Damu Shirodkar explained that the main black spot at Borda was cleared by the workers recently, adding that the Council will direct the agencies to keep the black spots clean.
Councillor Shagun Naik, representing Comba ward said one of the two black spots in his ward has remained unattended by the waste contractor.
The proposal to float the tender was later approved unanimously by the City Fathers, but many a question still remains unanswered. One, how will the MMC Babus ensure that waste dumped at the black spots and along the road sides is cleared regularly by the agencies to be roped in the new financial year. And, whether the MMC will come out with a mechanism to ensure transparency in the number of workers actually engaged by the door to door waste contractors.
