Stink alert! Garbage contractors plan indefinite strike

They claim their bills have not been cleared for the last seven months.

Y. Maheswara Reddy | NT

Bengaluru: For city residents, the new year could arrive with a stink with BBMP failing to take measures to avert a strike called by the garbage contractors’ association from December 31.

“We are facing problems in getting our bills cleared by the BBMP’s finance department. The bills amounting to `400 crore, are pending for seven months,’’ said association secretary S.N. Balasubramanya. The association has written to CM Bommai and BBMP Chief Commissioner Gaurav Gupta on the strike.

Here is bad news for residents of Bengaluru. They will have to cope with accumulated garbage from January 1 if the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) authorities fail to take measures to prevent the strike called by garbage contractors’ association from either December 31 or January 1.

“We have been facing a lot of problems to get our bills cleared from the BBMP’s finance department. We are yet to get our bills for the last seven months, amounting to around Rs 400 crore,’’ said BBMP Garbage Contractors’ Association secretary S.N. Balasubramanya.

He said the association had already sent letters to Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, BBMP Chief Commissioner Gaurav Gupta and other officials about its decision to go on an indefinite strike. “We have also demanded a meeting with the authorities concerned to redress our grievances,’’ he said, adding that the association had handed over a letter listing their problems to the authorities concerned on December 8.

Meanwhile, BBMP Special Commissioner (Finance) Tulasi Maddineni has said the finance department has already released funds to clear the garbage contractors’ bills for the months of June and July. “I am not aware of their decision to go on an indefinite strike,’’ Maddineni said.

When contacted, BBMP Special Commissioner (Solid Waste Management) Dr Harish Kumar has said that all efforts would be made to avoid the garbage contractors going ahead with their plan of indefinite strike. “Yes, it is true that the garbage contractors’ association has demanded a meeting with the BBMP Chief Commissioner but it could not take place since he was busy with the Assembly session at Belagavi. We have advised them to attend a meeting with the Commissioner on Monday, but the garbage contractors’ association wanted the meeting to be held on Tuesday as some of its members are out of station,’’ said Dr Harish Kumar.

He said that the BBMP Chief Commissioner would take a decision on their demands after meeting them.