City garbage disposal firm’s takeover delayed by 3 days

CHENNAI: Residents of three corporation zones will be forced to put up with piles of garbage for three more days as the new conservancy agency, Ramky Enviro Engineers Limited, has postponed the start of its operations to January 12.
Chennai Corporation sources said that the Hyderabad-based Ramky Enviro was scheduled to start collection, segregation, transportation and disposal of garbage in Teynampet (Zone IX), Kodambakkam (Zone X) and Adyar (Zone XIII) on January 9.
“Initially, they were to start operations from Monday but now they have deferred the date to Thursday. We are managing the conservancy work in these three zones,” said a corporation official.
Ramky Enviro has taken the contract for seven years. It will have to handle a total of 1,500 tonnes of garbage in the three zones covering 88sq km.
The previous conservancy contractor, Neel Metal Fanalca, ended work in the four old zones of Pulianthope, Triplicane, Adyar and Kodambakkam on December 31.
A corporation official said, “Ramky is expected to clear all the garbage from the bus route roads by 9am. Garbage on interior roads will be cleared by 1pm. If they fail to do that, they will be fined. Once they start work, the garbage problem will be resolved.”
Sources in Ramky Enviro said they are close to starting work. “The recruitment of workers is almost complete and we have bought the necessary equipment and vehicles. We do not want to start operations without being fully prepared,” said a Ramky Enviro official.
Ramky had asked for three months to set up operations in the city in November 2011. Following criticism about piling garbage, the corporation insisted that it start work in January.