Citizens decry PMC ‘s decision to spend ₹129.62 crore for sweeping only nine roads 

The PMC standing committee has sanctioned ₹129.62 crore for a sweeping contract where private contractual workers will be cleaning nine roads in three zones of Pune City for the next seven years. However, citizens have expressed serious concern citing that otherwise lackadaisical conservancy staff will avoid their regular duties as the contractual staff will carry out the activity. Meanwhile, civic rights activists, forums and residents have further alleged that PMC was spending exorbitant sums of money on road cleaning through contracts when it had its own sweeping staff being paid regular salaries for daily cleaning. 

According to the PMC officials, the standing committee sanctioned the said contract for three zones covering nine arterial roads only. However, activists have complained that the tenders have been sanctioned at higher rates.  

The earlier tender for the same work was cancelled in 2024 as contractors had quoted a price between 38-40 % higher rates. The initial tender worth ₹60 crore for sweeping the nine roads was floated for five years but had not received the desired response, PMC officials stated.  

Deputy commissioner of the solid waste management department Sandeep Kadam said, “A total of four tenders were issued for road sweeping. An objection was raised because one of them had objections and only three were approved by the standing committee. The current tender has seen cost escalation when compared with the old tender, but strict monitoring will be done to ensure that high-quality work is undertaken by the allottees,” he said. 

The current project entails three approved tenders covering Zones 2, 3, and 4. and the contractor’s duration is seven years. Each zone has been given a sanctioned fund of ₹43.20 crore, wherein the total project cost has been calculated at ₹129.62 crore. Three tenders approved will cover the cleaning of a total of nine roads while the tender for Zone 1 is yet to be sanctioned. As per the guidelines, the contractual sweepers are expected to clean 40 km of roads daily. The cost of ₹1,339 per Kilometer has been calculated for road sweeping for the said project. Each road will now have seven workers and three vehicles for cleaning. 

Undri resident Sunil Aiyer described the standing committee decision as a wastage of public money. “The existing sweeping staff is found wanting to clean the roads and streets. This is an additional burden on the taxpayers who are being looted by the civic body which has kept them bereft of basic amenities like roads, streetlights and drinking water for more than a decade What is the need for private contractual staff when you have regular conservancy staff,” he said.