BBMP garbage plan hit as bidders quote 40% more

Bengaluru: The BBMP’s plan to reboot the waste collection system has put it in a catch-22 situation as garbage contractors quoted 40 per cent more on average than its estimates. If accepted, the exorbitant bids will result in an additional burden of Rs 100 crore annually to manage solid waste in Bengaluru. 

The proposal comes at a time when the civic body is already considering imposing user fees for waste disposal. 

The bidders are learnt to have quoted between 12 per cent and 87 per cent more for providing door-to-door garbage collection services. Most of them quoted between 40 per cent and 60 per cent more, multiple sources said. 

In January 2023, the BBMP’s solid waste management arm floated tenders to collect segregated wet, dry and sanitary waste from households and small commercial establishments in 243 wards (the number of wards has been reduced to 225). The work was divided into 89 packages. The service provider has to deploy new compartmentalised vehicles to collect the waste daily. 

When the BBMP opened the bids subsequently, officials were in for a shock: Even the lowest bidders quoted far more than the acceptable 5% limit. What's more, the government acknowledged the exorbitant bids in the high court when the BBMP submitted the bids in a sealed cover. 

It's learnt that Deputy CM DK Shivakumar, who also holds the Bengaluru Development portfolio, called the contractors for negotiation to reduce the final cost. But the meeting reportedly did not end well as bidders stuck to their quotations. 

SN Balasubramanian, president of the BBMP Garbage Contractors' Association, blamed the civic body for goofing up the tenders. "Despite our objections, the BBMP went ahead with a unit rate-based tender system. It spends Rs 73,000 per auto tipper now but officials brought it down to Rs 59,000 in the estimated cost. This was done in spite of increasing the scope of work under the new system," he noted. 

A senior BBMP official declined to comment, saying the matter is in the high court. 

The increase in expenses towards collection and transport of garbage is likely to attract opposition from citizens because it comes at a time when the BBMP is planning to impose a user fee. Shivakumar has defended the user fee, stating it's as per the solid waste management rules.