Urban Development Minister CP Singh admitted to the poor state of sanitation in the State capital but put blame on MSW Pvt ltd, the firm given the task of solid waste management, entirely for keeping the Department and other concerned agencies in dark.
The Minister, at the same time, added that the debarment notice served to the firm may be a final call before its termination.
“I am not at all satisfied with the cleanliness exercise being done in the Capital. The company kept all of us in dark from the beginning itself. They have not been fulfilling the conditions agreed to the RMC. But it is not easy to dismiss anyone at one go and it may aggravate the situation further. We have issued a debarment notice to them which is one step before getting blacklisted,” said Singh addressing a press conference ahead of completion of 1000 days of the Government in office.
He went on adding that the Department and agencies like RMC were working to make Ranchi garbage-free. “Since Ranchi is becoming a Smart City which would be free from garbage piles, polythene etc, the efforts are on. We have identified four roads that would be developed along with footpath, cycle lane, bus lanes like we see in foreign countries. This is not only for Ranchi but several other towns of the State are being developed with these features,” he said.
The Minister, at the same time, lauded achievements of the Government during its stay in power despite lacking resources such as shortage of engineers, infrastructure and officials.
“Challenges are before us but we did far well than what have been done during the last 14 years before we came to power. lots of works have taken place in transportation front as well. 174 permits for rural buses have been given. Also, 95 luxury AC buses are plying between Ranchi and other towns of the State. For developing air connectivity, land has been acquired at Deoghar and expansions of airstrips at other places such as Medininagar and Hazaribagh are underway,” said Singh.
Principal Secretary of the Department Arun Kumar Singh expressed satisfaction over progress made in building houses under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojna (PMAY) in the State. “Jharkhand has emerged as a model for other states. We have been given a target to build 2.18 lakh houses by 2022. Excess land with HEC is being taken for this purpose. We have aimed to build 50,000 houses by January 26,” said the official.