Chandigarh’s legacy waste removal project: Firm makes lowest bid of ₹79 crore, MC to try to bring it lower
The other two companies quoted much higher bids of ₹122 crore and ₹126 crore; in Chandigarh MC’s last attempt too, bids were higher than ₹100 crore
The work on removing the second lot of 7.67 metric tonnes (MT) of legacy waste at the Dadumajra landfill is likely to start soon.
In its second attempt at allotting the work, the municipal corporation (MC) on Thursday opened the financial bids, in which three firms were in the running, and Aakanksha Enterprises submitted the lowest bid of ₹79.68 crore. The estimated cost of the project is around ₹67 crore.
A senior UT official, said, “As the bid is 17% more than the estimated cost in the tender, MC will negotiate with the bidder to bring it down. The bid results will be submitted with the state-level technical committee and then it will be taken to the high-powered steering committee.”
The other two companies quoted much higher bids of ₹122 crore and ₹126 crore. In MC’s last attempt too, bids were higher than ₹100 crore.
The project is being partially funded by the central government under the Swachh Bharat Mission 2.0. Of the total ₹67-crore cost, ₹28.02 crore will be contributed by the Union ministry of housing and urban affairs that has already released ₹11.36 crore.
A total of 12.7 lakh MT legacy waste is to be cleared from the 25-acre Dadumajra landfill. Of this, 5 lakh MT from before 2005 is being bio-mined under a Smart City project. Initially planned to completed by May 2021, the project now has an August 2023 deadline, though officials say it is likely to be achieved by December 2022.
The ₹67-crore project under the Swachh Bharat Mission 2.0 will target the remaining 7.67 lakh MT legacy waste dumped at the Dadumajra site after 2005. While Chandigarh’s daily solid waste generation is around 550-600 MT, most of it is dumped at the landfill without processing.