NDMC officers caught in row on BJP leaders’ fight

In a new twist to the ongoing controversy over contracts awarded to private companies for solid waste collection and transportation to landfill sites by the North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC), the civic body’s standing committee has ordered disciplinary action against three senior officers for their alleged role in misleading the corporation on the issue.

Controversy erupted after NDMC Leader of House Yogendra Chandolia wrote a letter the Delhi BJP president claiming that North mayor Ravinder Gupta had violated the Municipal Act by stalling the process of awarding contract of collection and transportation of solid waste.

After the Opposition Congress party in the corporation and Aam Aadmi Party alleged a scam in the awarding of the contracts, Mr Chandolia raised the issue on Wednesday and asked standing committee chairman Mohan Bhardwaj to direct the municipal commissioner to provide details of the issue since 2005, when the collection and transportation of municipal waste to landfill sites was privatised.

Taking a dig at the BJP, Leader of Opposition Mukesh Goel said the issue was in public domain only due to internal differences within the BJP. “Mayor Ravinder Gupta had informed us the collection and transportation municipal waste to landfill sites can be done for Rs 500 per metric tonne. We are simply asking if the mayor is saying that the same work is done at cheaper rate then why is the corporation planning to give the contract at higher rate ” added Mr Goel.

Clearing the doubts of standing committee members, additional commissioner Deepak Hastir said that in 2005 the contract had been awarded for the nine years to three private concessionaires and at present work is done on extension mode. “After expiry of the original contract, a proposal for fresh tender was initiated and in principal approval was accorded by the commission on January 11, 2013. After completing all the formalities, the proposal was sent to IIT Delhi for vetting and checking the proposal and rate on April 30, 2015. IIT Delhi approved the proposal and submitted its report on July 2, 2015. After completing all the formalities, the proposal was placed before the corporation on March 10 for the approval,” added Mr Hastir.