Govt panel rejects rates for doorstep waste collection in Gurgaon, orders retender

Gurgaon: The city’s long-awaited door-to-door waste collection project has suffered another setback. Haryana govt’s high-powered purchase committee, chaired by chief minister Nayab Singh Saini, declined to approve the rates quoted by participating agencies on Tuesday and directed that the project be retendered.The project, estimated to cost Rs 606 crore, aims to establish a comprehensive waste collection system for an initial period of five years, with the possibility of a two-year extension based on performance.According to sources, committee members expressed concerns over the rates proposed by the two shortlisted agencies for executing the waste collection contract. Sources said the agencies had quoted rates of around Rs 4,000 per tonne.However, officials argued that the rates were significantly higher than those being paid in other cities and states. During the meeting, comparisons were drawn with waste collection contracts in Delhi, Mumbai, Gujarat and several Haryana cities. The committee purportedly proposed a rate of Rs 3,000 per tonne, but the agencies — based in Delhi and Maharashtra — were unwilling to reduce their bids beyond Rs 3,750 per tonne.Officials pointed out that similar services in Delhi are being provided at rates ranging between Rs 2,200 and Rs 2,400 per tonne. In response, the agencies cited Gurgaon-specific operational challenges, including the absence of a dedicated waste collection system for an extended period and the large geographical area that needs to be serviced.“There will be a retender as the quoted rates were high,” MCG commissioner Pardeep Dahiya told TOI after the meeting in Chandigarh.The decision means residents will have to wait longer for a streamlined waste collection system, even as complaints about sanitation and garbage accumulation continue across the city.Ward 11 councillor Kuldeep Yadav said the city urgently needs dedicated agencies to manage doorstep waste collection. “Much of the waste seen on roads and in public spaces is a direct consequence of the lack of efficient doorstep collection. If the system is streamlined, nearly 60% of this waste could disappear,” Yadav said.A resident of Sector 23A, Bhawani Shankar Tripathy, criticised the prolonged delays in finalising a sustainable solution. “It is unfortunate that an urban local body in Haryana has not yet been able to develop an effective tendering mechanism for doorstep waste collection in Gurgaon,” he said.“Clear guidelines and policy frameworks already exist under the ministry of housing and urban affairs and Swachh Bharat Mission, yet the city continues to face delays in streamlining a basic civic service,” he said, adding that MCG should have devised alternative strategies instead of waiting for repeated approvals from the state govt.“The mayor and the commissioner have sufficient powers to introduce city-level measures to improve waste collection. Door-to-door collection and sanitation management should be decentralised and entrusted to ward councillors and ward committees, with adequate logistical support from the corporation,” he added.Gurgaon’s waste management system has remained in disarray since June 2024, when MCG terminated its contract with Ecogreen Energy over alleged poor performance. Since then, the civic body has relied on temporary arrangements and short-term contracts, while residents have repeatedly reported irregular garbage collection and deteriorating sanitation conditions.The urban local bodies department has revised the request for proposal multiple times over the past two years as authorities struggled to finalise a long-term waste collection model. TOI had earlier reported on repeated revisions to the tender framework.