The BBMP council witnessed acrimonious scenes on Friday as corporators opposed the garbage tenders floated on Tuesday night by keeping the council, the standing committee on health, the ruling party and opposition party leaders in the dark.
The corporators alleged that BBMP officials had uploaded the short-term tender in the night on the sly.
The special meeting, convened to discuss on the garbage by-law, went off the track as corporators opposed package tenders for garbage management and preferred ward-level tenders.
Opposition party leader M.K. Gunashekar slammed the ruling BJP’s unilateral decision in floating the tender without taking the approval of the council. “Allowing discussion after floating the tender is like having the engagement after the wedding,” he said.
But ruling party members too seemed upset with the process. Their floor leader N. Nagaraj demanded ward-level tender and modifications to allow interested local youths to participate.
“The tender conditions favour old contractors. The requirement of Rs 60 lakh solvency certificate is possible only by old contractors,” Mr Nagaraj said.
Another ruling party corporator Katte Sathyanarayana demanded an answer from officials for floating the tender without the approval of the council.
BBMP commissioner Rajneesh Goel said the high court slammed the BBMP and state government for not handling municipal solid waste scientifically.
“I wrote a letter to the government on September 18 to grant permission to float the tender. All legal procedures have been followed before floating the tender through e-procurement.
Solvency has been reduced to just 10 per cent of the total yearly contract. For SC/ST people, it will be 1 per cent of the total value as the EMD (Earnest Money Deposit) allowing more participation,” said Mr Goel.
In an earlier tender floated on December 2011, segregation of waste at source was not mandatory. But following the HC order, two public notices were issued, making segregation at source mandatory, he said.