PIONEER NEWS SERVICE | Dehradun
The Municipal Corporation of Dehradun (MCD) is reportedly considering taking back charge of door to door garbage collection from the Econ Waste Management company for alleged irregularities in 26 wards. The corporation is grappling with a severe challenge in maintaining consistent door-to-door garbage collection across the city. The system, currently handled by Econ Waste Management in several areas, has gone off track, leading to mounting public frustration.
According to the officials, people of Mohkampur area are also not getting regular garbage collection service for the past several days where Dehradun mayor Saurabh Thapliyal resides as well. Residents of several areas have been voicing their complaints consistently but no concrete solution has emerged so far. The situation has become so dire that the municipal corporation is now considering terminating Econ Waste Management’s contract altogether. This decision comes in the wake of alleged irregularities in the tender process awarded to the company, which has also triggered an internal investigation within the corporation.
The officials said that conditions in Econ-managed wards continue to deteriorate on the field too. Delays in salary payments to workers and lack of proper monitoring of garbage collection vehicles have disrupted services, with some areas reportedly experiencing gaps of 10 to 15 days between collections. These failures have led to growing resentment among citizens, who are directing their anger at the municipal corporation, as per the officials.
The officials claimed that if the contract is scrapped, the corporation plans to take over garbage collection in the 26 wards currently managed by Econ. This move will bring the total number of wards under direct municipal management to 73. The corporation is already overseeing door-to-door collection in 47 wards previously handled by Water Grace Company, which was also removed for several alleged irregularities.
The officials claimed that those areas have started showing signs of improvement after the MCD took charge. The corporation is expected to terminate the contract with the Econ soon too, they added.
