Pics: Spoorthi Ullal
Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru (DV)
Updated
Mangaluru, Jan 6: Deputy mayor of Mangaluru City Corporation Purushottam Chitrapur on Wednesday January 6 explained the dispute over waste handling in the city and said that the MCC has already paid Rs 17.68 crore to Antony Waste Handling Cell and only Rs 2 crore was pending, which would be cleared in th next 15 days.
Addressing a press meet at the MCC, Chitrapur said that Antony company was not doing its work as pledged in the agreement. "Though the company had agreed to mechanized sweeping of roads, footpath and drainage cleaning, it has not been doing these works. It is only undertaking door-to-door collection of waste. MCC had asked the company to provide mobilization chart and management plan for this year, but it has delayed it by five months. The company has to fulfill the work giving in the mobilization chart. This was one of the reasons for delay in payment."
"Out of the total outstanding amount of Rs 20,41,46,804, the MCC has already paid Rs 17,68,99,979.29 after a deduction of Rs 3,08,27,223 due to lapses in work. Now Rs 2,04,08,596 is pending which would be paid in the next 15 days," he said.
"Within the next 15 days, the MCC along with the MLA will hold meeting with MD and CEO of the company and discuss these issues with them. If such lapses continue, we will take necessary legal measures. We have already served notices to the company thrice," he added.
The Antony Waste Handling Cell had suspended collection of waste due to outstanding dues from MCC. The company resumed the door-to-door collection on Wednesday after the payment was done on Tuesday following the intervention of MLA J R Lobo in the matter.
MCC commissioner Dr H N Gopalkrishna, Shashidhar Hegde, corporator Deepak Poojary and others were present at the press meet.
Earlier Report
Mangaluru: Dispute over waste handling - Company resumes work after MLA's intervention
Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru (SP)
Mangaluru, Jan 6: The issue of solid waste disposal in the city, which was threatening to worsen, was amicably settled on Tuesday January 5 night with the intervention of local MLA, J R Lobo. Antony Waste Handling Cell Pvt Ltd, to which this work has been entrusted on contract basis, has agreed to withdraw its threat to stop clearing the garbage. It would be resuming the work of handling waste from Wednesday onward.
At the meeting held in Lobo's presence, the city corporation here agreed to make payment of two crore rupees towards pending bill immediately. It also has assured to make the balance payment in 15 days. Haridas Salian of the company said that his company agreed to resume disposal of waste on the basis of these assurances.
The company had stopped clearing garbage since Tuesday, and the meeting held between company representatives and city corporation had ended in deadlock. Thereafter, MLA, J R Lobo, entered the scene as mediator, and resolved the problem.
The company has been claiming that a sum of about ten crore rupees is pending payment to it including the amounts withheld citing non-completion of certain works. It had served notice on the city corporation on December 21, and had stopped waste disposal, as there was no favourable response.
The meeting held on Tuesday with the participation of deputy mayor and project director of Antony Waste, at the city corporation building failed to settle the issue as the officials of the corporation contended that only a small amount is pending to be paid. But Haridas Salian, project director of the company, said that at least six crore rupees is pending as per records and that dues are mounting at the rate of two crore rupees per month. Some of the corporators favoured reverting to earlier method of getting the work done through contractors. BJP corporators remained away from the meeting. Opposition leader, Sudhir Shetty Kannur, felt that the city corporation should have entered into compromise with the company, as reverting to old ways is difficult as waste bins have to be installed afresh, and workers have to be found for executing waste disposal work.