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Time of India
5 days ago
- Business
- Time of India
Private firm hires 1,700, govt hopes striking staff will join
Chennai: Even as about 1,500 sanitary workers abstained from work protesting waste management privatisation, the Greater Chennai Corporation's private contractor for Royapuram and Thiru Vi Ka Nagar zones directly recruited 1,700 workers to restart work. Out of the 3,800 slots, GCC has now reserved 2,000 slots for the protesting workers, and only 300 of them have rejoined, with the rest continuing to abstain from work. Still, 1,800 slots are vacant. The govt has informally instructed the contractor not to hire more people but to wait for the protestors to come back. However, the contractor—Chennai Enviro—told TOI that they are only paid based on manpower deployment as one of their key performance indicators. "If they don't join, we will have to fill vacancies soon," said Parisutham Vedamuthu, project head of Chennai Enviro. You Can Also Check: Chennai AQI | Weather in Chennai | Bank Holidays in Chennai | Public Holidays in Chennai | Gold Rates Today in Chennai | Silver Rates Today in Chennai From clearing garbage in about four wards of Royapuram and Thiru Vi Ka Nagar, the contractor has now expanded to 10 out of 30 wards. In Thiru Vi Ka Nagar zone, the contractor increased the number of trips from 32 to 96 in the last ten days, while in Royapuram, they have gone up from 77 to 128, collecting a total of 25,000 tonnes from the two zones. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Villas Prices In Dubai Might Be More Affordable Than You Think Villas In Dubai | Search Ads Get Quote Undo These zones generate about 1,000 tonnes a day and have a population of 20 lakh. "We still have key neighbourhoods of George Town, Central, and Egmore to cover. We will wait for a few days, and if people don't join, we will hire more people under the National Urban Livelihood Mission scheme for daily wages," Vedamuthu said. Regarding failed negotiations with protestors and fears over migrant workers being hired, municipal administration and water supply department minister K N Nehru said he spoke to the unions for four days straight. "The contractor won't recruit any migrant workers. The CM has told us to resolve this amicably," he said. Meanwhile, the contractor has scaled up operations with 310 battery vehicles to collect waste in three shifts. "We are doing manual and mechanical sweeping, and secondary transportation. We are building resource recovery centres and procuring tipper-lorries," Nehruadded. Stay updated with the latest local news from your city on Times of India (TOI). Check upcoming bank holidays , public holidays , and current gold rates and silver prices in your area.
Time of India
05-08-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
Chennai chokes on garbage as 3K workers strike over privatisation
Key pockets of Chennai are reeling under the stench of overflowing dumpsters as 3,000-odd sanitary workers abstained from work for the fifth consecutive day against a 2,500 crore waste management privatization deal. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now About 300 workers continued demonstrations at Ripon Buildings. The lives of at least 45 lakh residents, nearly half of the city's population, were thrown into disarray as garbage piled up in Royapuram, Thiru Vi Ka Nagar, Ambattur, Anna Nagar, and Tondiarpet zones. These zones, which come under Greater Chennai Corporation's purview, generate more than 2,000 tonnes every day. So, around 10,000 tonnes of waste lie uncleared adjacent to roads, apartments, and vacant land parcels. Motorists on Perambur high road, Choolai main road, Shanthi Colony 4th Avenue, and Justice Rathnavel Pandian road were dodging overflowing waste spilling onto the roadsides. School students in Mannadi hopscotched their way through piles of garbage. Residents of apartments and gated communities in Mogappair, Nolambur, and Nungambakkam began dumping waste into nearby vacant stretches. Several roads in the chief minister's Kolathur constituency were affected too. Of the 4,000 workers in these zones, around 3,000 have abstained from work and at least 1,500 among them are taking turns to protest at Ripon Buildings. C Raghukumar of Perambur Neighbourhood Development Forum said that after an impassioned plea, GCC deployed a woman worker to collect garbage from all households. Choolaimedu residents found that calls to the GCC's complaint helpline 1913 went unanswered. Advocate Sudha Ramalingam said no sanitary worker turned up at her Tamilar Street neighbourhood in Choolaimedu for three days. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now GCC has handed over Royapuram and Thiru Vi Ka Nagar zones to Chennai Enviro at a project cost of 2,300 crore. Chennai Enviro project head Parisutham Vedamuthu said that as per tenders, the company has time till October 20 to start work. "We plan to hire 4,500 staff, import tipper lorries, and procure battery-operated vehicles. Looking at the situation, we are mobilising manpower ward-wise. We are absorbing the protesters into work," he said. While GCC has shifted permanent staff to Ambattur zone, the contract workers have held protests over low wages and a lack of job security. The staff are paid Rs 700 a day, a wage fixed by the Chennai Collector, which adds up to 21,000 a month for a worker. The contractor, however, plans to offer 600 a day, totalling 18,600. But the CTC is higher as per GCC's project stipulations at 22,500 as the contractor has to offer provident fund, gratuity, ESIC, natural death and accidental death allowances, apart from welfare scheme supports in medical and labour. GCC has already floated tenders to privatize Anna Nagar and Tondiarpet zones, while Ambattur will be privatized in a year after all permanent staff retire. Several leaders from opposition parties, including former AIADMK minister D Jayakumar, met the protestors and spoke to them. Dismissing accusations by the opposition that workers were being 'mistreated', mayor R Priya said 10 zones had been privatized under the previous AIADMK govt, and the GCC was just completing the task now.
