
MC to outsource upkeep of inner lanes
An estimate worth Rs 32 crore has been prepared. The firm will be hired for three years.
The development was confirmed by MC commissioner Aaditya Dachalwal.
But the MC is yet to complete the proposal to hand over 31km of main roads to private hands for the same purpose. Officials, however, said fresh bids have been invited for maintaining the cleanliness of the city's thoroughfares after a revision in the estimated amount.
The intial estimate was Rs 6 crore, which has now been reduced to Rs 4.89 crore, they added.
The officials said, as far as the internal roads are concerned, the minimum width of these roads is around 15ft, and it goes up to 60 ft in some areas. Citing pressure from senior officials in Chandigarh, the civic officials here said they wanted the ball to be set rolling for the tendering process at the earliest, owing to which the necessarily approvals were hastily given, whereas officials of the local bodies department took a long time to give the go-ahead.
Sources revealed that MC officials raised concerns about hiring a private firm for cleaning internal roads, saying that it would be difficult to take the machines inside. Moreover, they said residents keep their cars parked there, making it difficult to sweep and clean these roads. For the cleaning of main roads (approximately 270 km), machines are already being used, and even on the main roads, the machines are used only at night when there is less traffic.
However, in the inner lanes, cleaning during the day is not possible, and if they try to do so at night, the parked cars will create problems. Besides, the MC has more than 5,000 sweepers for cleaning purposes. What will happen to them? The maximum salary is going to the sanitation staff, the sources said.
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