NEW DELHI: In a significant move that will accelerate the process for municipal solid waste (MSW) management in Delhi and possibly flatten the three landfills within a stipulated time, lieutenant governor VK Saxena delegated financial powers to the commissioner of Municipal Corporation of Delhi to sanction six major projects costing above Rs 5 crore.
These projects include the biomining of legacy waste at three landfills — Okhla (Rs 156.4 crore), Bhalswa (Rs 223.5 crore) and Ghazipur (Rs 223.5 crore) — finalising the rate and contractor for the collection and transportation of municipal and construction & demolition waste (Rs 1,137.9 crore), setting up of a municipal solid waste facility at Narela Bawana (Rs 604.2 crore) and finalising the rate and agency for silt biomining at the Singhola dumping site (Rs 46.1 crore).
While issuing the order on Monday, a statement from the LG’s Office stated, “On July 10, MCD moved Delhi govt to delegate financial powers to MCD as per the provisions of Section 202 of the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act, 1957. However, urban development minister Saurabh Bhardwaj inordinately and without explanation, kept the file pending at his level, severely affecting municipal services due to lack of financial sanction, considering the Standing Committee was not in place. Thereafter, the LG’s secretariat recalled the file on two occasions, invoking Rule 19(5) of the Transaction of Business of the GNCTD Rules. However, the file hasn’t yet been sent by the minister and remains untraceable.”
It added, “Finally, in light of the dire circumstances, six contracts were approved today by LG by delegating these financial powers upon the MCD commissioner. The proposal to this effect was moved again by MCD on Sept 5 to Delhi Govt and this time it was sent to LG today after approval of the chief minister.”
Earlier, a directive issued by the urban development department on Monday said, “Whereas the management of municipal solid waste in Delhi is an obligatory function of MCD under Section 42 of the DMC Act, the corporation has been required to execute contracts for collection, management, and disposal of waste. However, the powers to execute the contracts in excess of Rs 5 crore vest with the MCD’s Standing Committee. And on account of non-constitution of this committee, these contracts could not be executed, leading to a situation where MCD is facing difficulties in meeting its obligatory functions. Therefore, in exercise of powers under Clause (c) of Section 202 of DMC, 1957, GNCTD hereby empowers the commissioner to execute the contract for six projects, subject to the condition that the details of specific contracts shall be intimated to the Standing Committee, as and when constituted.”
Aam Aadmi Party, however, refuted LG’s contentions on the alleged delay, stating, “The file came to the urban development minister on Sept 6 and was approved the same day. LG should explain why this file was not processed even after the approval of the minister. Will LG act against officers who delayed this file? Now when the Supreme Court is about to hear this matter, this file has been finally approved by LG.”
These projects have been awaiting approval for over a year. MCD had also approached the Supreme Court on the matter and on July 26, the apex court directed the secretary of the Union environment ministry to meet the MCD commissioner to find ways to address the poor state of solid waste management in Delhi. The civic body approached Delhi govt for granting the commissioner the financial authority to enable clearance of the six projects.
