BMC evidently ignored own consultant’s advice several times; contractor yet to start processing waste 4 yrs after bagging contract
MUMBAI: The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) willingly squandered away precious public money, nearly 1,300% more as tipping fee than what its own consultant advised it to pay to a contractor for the controversial Deonar dumping ground.
Hindustan Times has documents to show how Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services Ltd (IL&FS) had, in December 2005, proposed that the contractor be paid Rs40 per metric ton for processing the city’s waste.
The BMC, instead, decided to pay the contractor Rs550 per metric ton, a whopping 1,275% more than the original cost. While the civic body has been blamed for approving such an inflated cost, insiders point to the discrepancies in the various escalations proposed by IL&FS.
After its 2005 report, the consultant submitted another report in January 2006, raising the tipping fee to Rs150 per metric ton for processing waste at Deonar. One year later, the firm raised the tipping fee by nearly three times to Rs445 per metric ton.
Going a step ahead, the civic body decided to grant a total of Rs 550 per metric ton as tipping fee to the contractor, UPL, for composting waste. This was in addition to the amount being paid to the contractor for the partial closure and landfill creation at the dumping ground.
As a result of this escalation, the cost of the project too went up. While IL&FS’ 2005 report pegged the total cost of the Deonar project at Rs160 crore, the final cost approved by the BMC in July 2009 was a staggering Rs4,408 crore, 2,655% higher than the original cost.
“There was rampant cost escalation even before the project could take off. The BMC officials then should have read it as a sign of things to come and changed the consultant,” said a senior civic official in the current solid waste management set-up.
This was not all. While the BMC agreed to pay Rs3,000 crore of the total cost as just tipping fees, the National Building Construction Company, a central government body, had proposed to do this for no cost.
However, sources from UPL said: “We firmly maintain that the entire bidding process, including the evaluation had been absolutely transparent and fair, and we reject any allegation to the contrary.”
Same story at Kanjurmarg, Mulund dumps
MUMBAI: While the total spending on Deonar dumping ground has gone up by almost 3,000% of the original cost, the cost of the other two dumping grounds too has undergone a similar escalation, making them a big burden on the civic exchequer.
At Mulund, the city’s smallest dumping ground which can handle only 500 metric tons of waste every day, the consultant IL&FS had recommended in January 2006 that only Rs150 be paid to contractors as fee tipping per metric ton of garbage.
BMC OFFICIAL However, the consultant raised this figure to Rs290 per metric ton in February 2007. The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) went a step ahead and paid Rs525 as tipping fee per metric ton of garbage to the contractor.
It was a similar story at Kanjurmarg dumping ground, the city’s newest dump site. After first proposing a tipping fee of Rs150 per metric ton here, the consultant revised it to Rs276 per metric ton. The BMC approved the final tipping fee at Rs525 per metric ton, a hike of 250% from the original fee.
An insider said the civic body, while tabling the Deonar proposal before the standing committee, compared its rates to that at Kanjurmarg dumping ground.
“The administration did not, however, disclose all information about how much garbage both the dumps will be using. Thus, it felt as if the rate quoted by the Deonar bidder was not so high. But it was actually a clever manipulation,” he said.
Despite the big money spent by the BMC, there is hardly any progress on the two dumping grounds. In fact, the civic body has been considering scrapping the contract allotted to a UPL-led consortium.
“There has been little progress on the ground four years after the contract was given to them. While we have been taking regular action against them, including penalising them, we are contemplating stricter action,” said an official of the BMC’s solid waste management department.
Courtesy:
9 Apr 2013, Hindustan Times (Mumbai)
Kunal Purohit kunal.purohit@hindustantimes.com
http://paper.hindustantimes.com/epaper/viewer.aspx
MUMBAI: The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) willingly squandered away precious public money, nearly 1,300% more as tipping fee than what its own consultant advised it to pay to a contractor for the controversial Deonar dumping ground.
Hindustan Times has documents to show how Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services Ltd (IL&FS) had, in December 2005, proposed that the contractor be paid Rs40 per metric ton for processing the city’s waste.
The BMC, instead, decided to pay the contractor Rs550 per metric ton, a whopping 1,275% more than the original cost. While the civic body has been blamed for approving such an inflated cost, insiders point to the discrepancies in the various escalations proposed by IL&FS.
After its 2005 report, the consultant submitted another report in January 2006, raising the tipping fee to Rs150 per metric ton for processing waste at Deonar. One year later, the firm raised the tipping fee by nearly three times to Rs445 per metric ton.
Going a step ahead, the civic body decided to grant a total of Rs 550 per metric ton as tipping fee to the contractor, UPL, for composting waste. This was in addition to the amount being paid to the contractor for the partial closure and landfill creation at the dumping ground.
As a result of this escalation, the cost of the project too went up. While IL&FS’ 2005 report pegged the total cost of the Deonar project at Rs160 crore, the final cost approved by the BMC in July 2009 was a staggering Rs4,408 crore, 2,655% higher than the original cost.
“There was rampant cost escalation even before the project could take off. The BMC officials then should have read it as a sign of things to come and changed the consultant,” said a senior civic official in the current solid waste management set-up.
This was not all. While the BMC agreed to pay Rs3,000 crore of the total cost as just tipping fees, the National Building Construction Company, a central government body, had proposed to do this for no cost.
However, sources from UPL said: “We firmly maintain that the entire bidding process, including the evaluation had been absolutely transparent and fair, and we reject any allegation to the contrary.”
Same story at Kanjurmarg, Mulund dumps
MUMBAI: While the total spending on Deonar dumping ground has gone up by almost 3,000% of the original cost, the cost of the other two dumping grounds too has undergone a similar escalation, making them a big burden on the civic exchequer.
At Mulund, the city’s smallest dumping ground which can handle only 500 metric tons of waste every day, the consultant IL&FS had recommended in January 2006 that only Rs150 be paid to contractors as fee tipping per metric ton of garbage.
BMC OFFICIAL However, the consultant raised this figure to Rs290 per metric ton in February 2007. The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) went a step ahead and paid Rs525 as tipping fee per metric ton of garbage to the contractor.
It was a similar story at Kanjurmarg dumping ground, the city’s newest dump site. After first proposing a tipping fee of Rs150 per metric ton here, the consultant revised it to Rs276 per metric ton. The BMC approved the final tipping fee at Rs525 per metric ton, a hike of 250% from the original fee.
An insider said the civic body, while tabling the Deonar proposal before the standing committee, compared its rates to that at Kanjurmarg dumping ground.
“The administration did not, however, disclose all information about how much garbage both the dumps will be using. Thus, it felt as if the rate quoted by the Deonar bidder was not so high. But it was actually a clever manipulation,” he said.
Despite the big money spent by the BMC, there is hardly any progress on the two dumping grounds. In fact, the civic body has been considering scrapping the contract allotted to a UPL-led consortium.
“There has been little progress on the ground four years after the contract was given to them. While we have been taking regular action against them, including penalising them, we are contemplating stricter action,” said an official of the BMC’s solid waste management department.
Courtesy:
9 Apr 2013, Hindustan Times (Mumbai)
Kunal Purohit kunal.purohit@hindustantimes.com
http://paper.hindustantimes.com/epaper/viewer.aspx
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