The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : “Neel Metal Fanalca has breached contract”

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Sep 29, 2007
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

“Neel Metal Fanalca has breached contract”

Staff Reporter

Report on garbage submitted before Consumer Commission

— Photo: N. Sridharan

STINKING ACCUMULATION: A recent scene of garbage piled up on the roadside at Vannanthurai in Besant Nagar.

Chennai: The report of Advocate Commissioner V. Suresh on the status of garbage clearance in the Ice House and Adyar zones has said that private contractor Neel Metal Fanalca has breached several conditions of the solid waste management contract with the Chennai Corporation even before starting operations.

The Advocate Commissioner submitted his report on garbage clearance in the two zones before the State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission here on Friday. The report said the firm was yet to submit information on employee and fleet strength despite a direction from the Commission.

“As a measure of upholding, respecting and promoting citizens’ right to information, it is suggested that the full text of the agreement for solid waste management, entered into on behalf of the citizens of Chennai city by the Corporation Commissioner with service provider Neel Metal Fanalca, be placed on the website of the Corporation of Chennai or website of the Government of Tamil Nadu,” Mr. Suresh said in his report.

Poor readiness

The Advocate Commissioner said that it was not known if the private firm had submitted a micro plan of action to the Corporation within seven days of the signing of the contract, as was stipulated. The micro plan clause required the company to provide details of work routes to be adopted to cover a specified area, frequency of trips and the time proposed for each trip for each route. According to the agreement, the company had to get a readiness certificate from the Corporation before beginning commercial operations.

The Corporation has also come under criticism for failure to enforce the terms of the contract. The report raised the following question: Can tax-payers be asked to cope with a potentially hazardous situation of solid wastes lying unremoved in different parts of the city?

The case will come up before the State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission again on October 3.

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