3 new agencies to manage waste in Gurugram after MCG cancels Ecogreen’s contract

The Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) cancelled the contract of solid waste management concessionaire Ecogreen and has given the contract for its door-to-door waste collection to three new agencies that were transporting waste from secondary points to the Bandhwari landfill.

The order came on June 14 night after considering all the issues that were not resolved in the past seven years and a final termination notice was issued after getting approval from the urban local bodies (ULB) department.

A five-member committee will be formed for a formal takeover within a week, said MCG joint commissioner Naresh Kumar. The committee members will comprise the deputy commissioner of Gurugram, an official from Faridabad and other stakeholders to streamline the process, Kumar said.

Meanwhile, Ecogreen Energy, in an official statement said that they had to deal with a “mafia” which collected the waste, hampering the company’s operations.

The contract was signed in August 2017, in which Ecogreen had to meet some targets like 100% coverage of households for door-to-door waste collection within a year, recycling 80% of the collected waste within a year, 100% segregation of waste at source within six months, and work continuously for seven days. However, the concessionaire failed to achieve any of the targets, the officials added.

As per the contract, 100% scientific waste disposal was to be done within six months of establishing the sanitary landfill. However, as the landfill site has not been developed, the waste is being disposed of in an unorganized manner.

“Similarly, 100% segregation of waste was to be achieved within six months of signing the agreement, but they failed to achieve this benchmark as well. Additionally, the concessionaire has deliberately failed to collect waste continuously for several months. These deliberate lapses on the part of Ecogreen also contributed to the termination of the contract,” Kumar said.

Meanwhile, Gurugram residents have pointed out that the concessionaire had stopped transporting waste from secondary collection points since June 28 last year.

Recently, the Haryana government declared a municipal solid waste exigency due to the alarming levels of untreated solid waste in Gurugram which is affecting the environment and public health.