Paid Rs 70L a month, but shoddy work: Sweeping contractor under lens in Gurgaon

Time of India

21-04-2025

Gurgaon: Sweeping machines managed by a private contractor for MCG, which should operate throughout the night on city roads, are underperforming.
One of the sweeping machines worked only for 28 minutes daily, sources said, citing a virtual meeting led by urban local bodies commissioner and secretary Vikas Gupta on Monday.
The city's main roads are serviced by 15 sweeping machines during night hours, for which MCG provides a substantial monthly payment of Rs 70.5 lakh each month besides the fuel charges to the contractor. Additional commissioner Mahabir Parsad said each sweeping machine is paid Rs 4.7 lakh besides the diesel depending upon their operations in a month.
ULB commissioner Gupta directed MCG officials on Monday to prepare a proposal for blacklisting all those private contractors working for the city's solid waste management (SWM), development projects, etc., who are not working efficiently. The virtual meeting came against the backdrop of the data uploaded on the SWM portal established by the ULB department. Sources said the MCG officials were questioned about the underperformance of the sweeping machines, but they could not answer. Municipal Corporation of Faridabad (MCF) data uploaded on the SWM portal also showed that their sweeping machines were underperforming, sources said.
by Taboola
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MCF officials said there is a "technical glitch" in the portal/app due to which correct information is not being uploaded online. "As per our agreement with the agency operating the machines, we make payments as per the GPS data uploaded online. If it has worked for 28 minutes only, the payment will be done accordingly. We have increased our surveillance on these machines. The machines occasionally experience technical faults, despite having predetermined schedules and designated routes," additional commissioner Parsad said.
"We also conduct surprise checks of these machines. It was just yesterday when I sought the location of the machines at 10.40pm. The machine operator shared the location coordinates along with the photographs. So, we have been monitoring them. Earlier, their parking was allocated in Sector 110, which was a challenge for them. Now I have designated a parking lot in Sector 57, which is centrally located," Parsad said.
The additional commissioner said it is mandatory for the machines to dispose of the dust collected after sweeping the city roads at the designated sites.
On April 7, a penalty of Rs 25,000 was levied against the mechanical sweeping contractor for inadequate cleaning services. The penalty followed an inspection conducted by the MCG officials. The officials inspected areas from Southern Peripheral Road (SPR) to Vatika Chowk on both sides of the road, Rajesh Pilot Road and the roads in sectors 65 and 66.
It was found that a large amount of dust accumulated on the left side of the road. The dust was blowing on the road, suggesting that either the agency did not work on this road or the left-side brush of the sweeping machine was not touching the road.