Mumbai: Two days after the Rs 4,165-crore tender to outsource garbage collection and transportation hit a hurdle as contractors quoted 34% to 64% above BMC’s cost estimates, the civic administration seems to have returned to the drawing board. Senior officials have been re-examining their internal calculations and have held discussions with bidders to understand their “exorbitantly” high quotations.The proposal involved handing over waste collection and disposal across 22 wards, except L (Kurla), M-East (Govandi), and M-West (Chembur) which are close to Kanjurmarg and Deonar dumping grounds, to private firms, which would use high-capacity, colour-coded vehicles with 10%–15% of the fleet mandated to be electric. BMC was keen to finalise the tender by Dec.Meanwhile, MNS city chief Sandeep Deshpande demanded a full-fledged inquiry into the inflated bids. “This is taxpayers’ money,” he said. “BMC cannot award works at such exorbitant rates. We believe the administration is rushing this process to favour a Gujarat-based contractor with strong political connections. If the municipal chief refuses to act, we will be forced to stage a dharna outside his chamber at the BMC headquarters.“
