How can government issue contracts for solid waste management without landfills? asks Karnataka Deputy CM D K Shivakumar

Bengaluru: Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar on Wednesday dismissed allegations that the government had issued contracts to blacklisted firms for solid waste management in Bengaluru, and said no contracts have been issued yet.

Speaking to reporters, he said, “The landfills on the outskirts of the city have not been identified yet. Then how can we issue contracts to companies to manage solid waste, let alone blacklisted companies.”

When asked about the allegations that solid waste management contracts for a sum of Rs 94,000 crore were given for 30 years to certain blacklisted companies, he said, “A union minister has alleged that I have taken a bribe of Rs 15,000 crore to issue contracts for solid waste management. The media has reported it too, but it is completely baseless.”

“We are struggling to identify lands for landfills. Without landfills, where is the question of giving contracts to any firm? The issue is also in the court as waste disposal at Mandur has stopped for the last three days. We are looking for an alternative site. We are in talks with Nice (Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Enterprise) organisation for the same,” he said.

“Two to three landfill sites must be moved out of Bengaluru. We visited a few other states to study how the landfill system works. We will discuss the issue of landfills with the chief minister and place it before the cabinet before taking a decision.

"The people who were doing solid waste management business without tendering process are feeling bad that processes are being introduced and followed now,” he claimed.