No garbage lifting, threatens Kanak

Nagpur: Merely two days after Nagpur was included in the list of Smart Cities, city’s garbage disposal contractor Kanak Resources Management Ltd has threatened to stop work from October 2 over non-payment of dues by Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC).
A senior NMC official said that the civic body had not paid the contractor since April and the outstanding now amounts to over 22 crore.
NMC had entered into an agreement with Kanak Resources on May 16, 2008, to lift the garbage from across the city and dispose it in Bhandewadi dump yard.NMC had signed the contract for 10 years. The actual work began from the following year. NMC pays 5.50 crore to the private firm each month.
After the project kicked off, NMC announced making the city bin-free from April 1, 2009, as the private firm with its workforce of 1,500 started lifting garbage from every doorstep. The civic body won many accolades for this project and probably was the first city in the state to go bin-free. When Kanak was engaged, the city used to generate around 600 metric tonnes garbage each day. It has now increased by almost 300 tonnes with inclusion of many new localities including Hudkeshwar and Narsala.
Non-payment of dues have crippled the financial condition of the firm as it has continued to pay salaries, besides having to spend on maintaining a fleet of 258 vehicles engaged in garbage lifting and transportation. The firm is also owns 670 cyclerickshaws used to collect garbage. It spends around 3.50 crore each month on salaries and 50 lakh for maintenance of vehicles and EMIs towards purchase of vehicles, said the source.
Sources in the firm stated termination notice was served on NMC on September 2. The firm has also informed its employees that if the NMC failed to clear the dues, their services too will not be required from October 2.
Municipal commissioner Shravan Hardikar admitted that payment for six months was due, as financial condition of the NMC was not good. He stated that following a wage hike, the firm has demanded an increase in payment. The civic chief, however, said, “We would soon make payments so services would not be affected.”