Solid waste management: City Corporation cautions Antony Company
‘Will cancel contract if work is boycotted’
Mangaluru, June 28: The City Corporation on Thursday warned the Antony Waste Management Company, which is maintaining the solid waste management in the city, of cancelling the contract if it resorted to protest or boycotted the work under the pretext that it will have to get dues from the corporation.
The first general body meeting of the city corporation chaired by mayor Bhaskar Moily here, the city corporation also decided to make alternative arrangements if the company failed to discharge its duty.
Corporators in the meeting expressed their apprehension about the non-disposal of solid waste in the city due to the protest of the Antony Company and its consequences. The Company has been telling that as the city corporation had to give balance amount to the company, its workers go on strike very oftenly. But the city corporation has said that it has to pay one month payment to the company. If it is true, it is very unfortunate that a national level company is blackmailing the city corporation for one month due, said corporator Vijay Kumar Shetty.
Another corporator Dayanand Shetty urged the mayor to black-list the company, while former mayor Harinath alleged that waste disposal in interior parts of the city is not effective.
Responding to it, Commissioner Muhammad Nazeer said that solid waste management is being conducted in two packages in the city. The Antony company is collecting the waste from the door-steps, while Unique Waste Private Limited company is processing the waste. Monthly, the Antony company is being given Rs 2 to Rs 2.20 crore and Unique company is being given Rs 20 to 22 lakh. As claimed by the company, the city corporation does not owe Rs 30 crore to the company, he clarified.
As per the agreement, the Antony company has to sweep the roads using machines, clean the drainages of more than one meter depth and separate the collected garbage. Because the company is not following the agreement norms, the city corporation is slapping penalty and cutting the payment every month and this amount is almost Rs 9 crore. For this, the company has already filed arbitration with the Deputy Commissioner. Out of Rs 9 crore, the company would get just Rs 87 lakh and remaining amount would be given as Escalation expenses to the company. As per this, the city corporation had paid Rs 4.70 crore to the company in January and Rs 5.50 crore is balance. Along with this, the city corporation had to pay May month payment of Rs 2.25 crore. In total, the city corporation has to give Rs 7.75 crore dues to the company, he said.
When the workers stopped the work suddenly, it affected the people in the city. Though it was holiday on the next day, the city corporation had convened an emergency meeting and asked all old contractors to collect the waste in some parts of the city. Later, the company workers called of their protest and resumed their work. If the workers boycotted the work in future, then the city corporation would cancel the contract with it. The corporation has already informed the company as a last warning that it would make alternative arrangement if its workers boycott the work, the commissioner said.
MLAs Vedavyas Kamath and Bharat Shetty, MLC Ivan D’Souza, deputy mayor Muhammad Kunjattabail, standing committee presidents Praveen Chandra Alva, Naveen D’Souza, Latha Salian, Radhakrishna and others were present.
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Delhi pollution: More areas in 'severe' category
fines of Rs 5.85 cr imposed as restrictions tightened
New Delhi, Nov 16: Delhi's air quality worsened further on Saturday, with many areas in the "severe" category, even as authorities intensified their action by imposing penalties of around Rs 5.85 crore on the first day of anti-pollution measures under the third stage of Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP).
The city's 24-hour Air Quality Index (AQI), recorded at 4 pm daily, stood at 417, making it the worst in the country. On Friday, the AQI level was 396.
According to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), the "severe" category air poses risks to healthy individuals and severely impacts those with existing health conditions.
Out of Delhi's 39 monitoring stations, data shared by the CPCB showed that all except for Sri Aurobindo Marg reported air quality in the "severe" category, with AQI levels above 400.
An AQI between 0 and 50 is considered 'good', 51 and 100 'satisfactory', 101 and 200 'moderate', 201 and 300 'poor', 301 and 400 'very poor', 401 and 450 'severe' and above 450 'severe plus'.
As the restrictions under the third stage of GRAP came into force on Friday, authorities intensified action against those violating norms with teams of traffic police, transport department and others penalising violators.
On Friday, Delhi Traffic Police issued around 550 challans for violation of a ban on the plying of BS III petrol and BS IV diesel vehicles, imposing fines of over Rs 1 crore on the first day of restrictions under the third stage of GRAP.
Violation of this rule invites a penalty of Rs 20,000. Diesel and petrol inter-state buses, except for BS VI diesel, from the NCR cities to Delhi are also banned.
The police also cracked down on vehicles not having Pollution Under Control Certificates (PUCC), as it issued fines to 4,855 vehicles totalling Rs 4.85 crore on Friday.
A fine of Rs 10,000 is imposed on motorists for not having a valid pollution under control (PUC) certificate. These challans get released from courts.
During an inspection of buses at Kashmiri Gate inter-state bus terminal on Saturday, Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai alleged that BJP-ruled neighbouring states were exacerbating air pollution in the capital by sending BS-IV diesel buses despite a ban.
"The BJP governments are deliberately sending diesel buses to Delhi, which is prohibited under the current guidelines, to worsen air pollution," said Rai pointing to states like Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, and Rajasthan.
As part of efforts to combat pollution, Rai announced that a total of 84 enforcement teams from the Transport Department and 280 teams from the Traffic Police have been mobilised to ensure strict adherence to the ban.
Additionally, there is a stringent ban on construction and demolition activities, suspension of mining-related activities, and daily water sprinkling on major roads. City schools for classes up to 5 will shift to online mode after the weekend.
The GRAP for Delhi-NCR is divided into four stages of air quality: Stage 1 for "poor" air quality (AQI ranging from 201 to 300), Stage 2 for "very poor" air quality (AQI from 301 to 400), Stage 3 for "severe" air quality (AQI from 401 to 450), and Stage 4 for "severe plus" air quality (AQI above 450).
The air quality in neighbouring Haryana was no better, with Jind recording the second-worst AQI in the country with a reading of 394, while Bahadurgarh ranked third with a reading of 388. The Haryana government Saturday authorised deputy commissioners to discontinue physical classes for up to Class 5 in schools in their respective districts after assessing the prevailing situation in the wake of rising pollution.
Meanwhile, old age homes across Delhi are intensifying measures to protect the elderly which include strict restrictions on outdoor activities during peak pollution hours, mandatory mask use, and oxygen cylinders on standby for emergencies.
General Bhupendra Singh, Chairman of Aashirwad Old Age Home, said, "We do not allow anyone to step outside the premises due to the toxic air quality. The elderly, being the worst affected group, are strictly prohibited from venturing out during peak pollution hours, especially in the morning and evening."
"If they must go out for medical appointments, they are instructed to minimise outdoor time and wear masks for protection," he added.
Rajeshwari, a caregiver at the Sai Sahara old age home highlighted the additional precautions being taken.
"We are focusing on maintaining a healthy diet for the residents and have restricted outdoor activities, including morning walks, due to the severe air quality," she said.
According to the Centre's Decision Support System for Air Quality Management, stubble burning was the main contributor to Delhi's air pollution on Thursday, accounting for 37 per cent of the total pollution.
Vehicular emissions contributed approximately 12 per cent to the overall pollution, it said.
Meanwhile, the prominent pollutant was PM2.5, according to the CPCB.
PM2.5 refers to fine particles with a diameter of 2.5 micrometres or less, about the width of a human hair.
These particles are so small that they can penetrate deep into the lungs and even enter the bloodstream, posing significant health risks.
