The Ranchi Municipal Corporation (RMC) seems to be heading towards a showdown between elected representatives and the officials of the municipal body over the new system of waste management. While the earlier headed by Deputy Mayor has finalised the size of the budget the municipal body’s officials want to put it on hold until a complete assessment of the new system is made.
“We are on business from January 1, so where is the time to prepare budget. We will first put the system in place so that we can arrive at the actual cost for managing waste,” said RMC CEO Manoj Kumar.
While the Deputy Mayor Sanjeev Vijayvargiya is ready to propose budgets which as per his estimates would burden the RMC to the tune of Rs 1.5 crore, officials of the municipal body want to focus on putting the system in place first. “I have submitted the budget to the CEO and tomorrow I am going to meet him to discuss the size of the budget,” said the Deputy Mayor.
Interestingly, officials of the RMC do not want elected representatives to decide the quantum of budget as it’s a right which rests with the municipal body. “Who knows we can even do the work at a lower cost,” said a senior official of RMC.
According to sources the chances of adopting the budget made by the Deputy Major is too slim until the municipal body makes its own assessment of costs. “It’s not about what I or officials of RMC will decide about the budget. It will be ultimately based on facts,” conceded Vijayvargiya.
Ironically, following the exit of the solid waste management firm, A2Z, the cost of waste management is likely to get double. The budget prepared by the Deputy Mayor envisages more labourers in service than employed earlier by A2Z which incidentally means more cost to company. As per the estimates made, the strength of labourers must be increased between 50 to 100 per cent in different wards to ensure that the new system doesn’t become a replication of old one.
“We need to understand that if we try to downsize the budget things will go back to where it was earlier. A2Z had deliberately quoted low rates and the result is there for everyone to see,” maintained the Deputy Mayor.
Meanwhile, Kumar assured that he will not let the city become a heap of garbage and his prime focus will be to ensure that whatever system is created remains transparent in terms of liability and responsibility. “From contact persons to cost we will make everything public so that people know what we are doing,” added Kumar.