Ludhiana: The city, which struggles with sanitation, can look forward to better integrated solid waste management and cleaner roads. The finance and contracts committee (F&CC) gave approval to these works during a meeting held at the mayor camp office on Thursday.After three to four failed attempts, officials have now floated tenders with revised costs for the projects. For the integrated solid waste management project, the civic body has issued a tender for eight years, with an initial cost of Rs 1,144.5 crore. It was supposed to pay Rs 3,429 per tonne per day, but with the cost escalating to Rs 1,408.6 crore, the one-day cost will be Rs 4,221 per tonne. Officials said they have received responses from representatives of five firms, who requested cost revision.The proposal for sweeping, washing and cleaning of internal roads was to cost Rs 867 per km, which has been revised to Rs 1,800 per km per day. The total project cost has risen from Rs 33.8 crore to Rs 70 crore. Officials claimed to have covered 2,500 km of internal roads. The company awarded the contract will be responsible for mechanical sweeping, litter picking, cleaning and washing of internal roads. Debris removal and waste disposal will be done on weekly basis. The contractor will maintain and operate mechanical sweepers, manage resources, and ensure compliance with govt guidelines, including the Swachh Bharat Mission, for three years. The scope of work also includes development of a mobile application to track activities, report issues and facilitate communication between municipal officers, field workers as well as citizens.The cost of the third project of cleaning and washing main roads was estimated to be Rs 4.8 crore. Initially, the civic body took up a 31.2km stretch but later, authorities decided to expand the scope. Eventually, a total stretch of 697km was taken up and the project cost went up to Rs 81.5 crore for three years. Confirming the details, senior deputy mayor Rakesh Prashar underlined the need to improve solid waste management and cleanliness in the city. MSID:: 130468324 413 |
