AAP will oppose this system in the MCD Standing Committee meeting : Saurabh Bhardwaj

Aam Aadmi Party’s chief spokesperson Saurabh Bhardwaj held an important press conference on Monday stating that the BJP-ruled MCD is set to pay a monthly rent of Rs. 18.36 lacs for trommel machines used for garbage management that can be bought for Rs. 17.70 lacs. The BJP-ruled MCD has till yet paid a rent of Rs. 26 crores in the last 1.5 years for trommel machines that could have been bought for Rs 4 crore. He informed that the MCD Chief Auditor's report has unveiled direct corruption of Rs. 22 crores in the past, and now the BJP-ruled MCD is planning a 3-times bigger loot by renting these machines. The BJP is now leaving the MCD & they are deliberately signing such contracts to benefit their own people. He further informed that the Aam Aadmi Party will oppose this in the Standing Committee tomorrow.

Shri Saurabh Bhardwaj said, “You must be aware of the Bhalswa, Ghazipur and Okhla garbage dumping grounds. The Delhi government had made a committee to discuss how to reduce these garbage piles. This committee was made under the Chief Secretary of Delhi, wherein all the three commissioners were a part of. The Delhi government pays the most amount of money for the purpose of reducing these garbage piles. The Delhi Government gives 65 crore rupees to the East MCD to reduce the mountain of the garbage while the East MCD gives 40 crores. In the North, the Delhi Government gives 35 crores while the North MCD gives 30 crores. And in the South, the Delhi Government gives 25 crores whereas the South MCD gives 15 crores. This means that the Delhi Government has a major contribution to the process of reducing garbage piles in these landfills.”

He said, “Today’s press conference is about the loot of crores of rupees in the MCD given by the Delhi Government and the money MCD contributes to it through taxes. We have in the past done a press conference before about trommel machines. Trommel machines are the most important machines which help in processing the garbage and reducing the height of the garbage pile. We based our previous press conference on an audit report made by the Chief Auditor of the MCD itself. According to that report, the MCD has taken these trommel machines on rent. The price of these trommel machines in the market, as stated in the audit report as well, is Rupees 17.70 lakh. But, the MCD has taken these machines on rent for 6.30 lakh rupees per month. That means within three months the rent of these machines surpasses the actual price of these machines. For the past 1.5 years, 23 such rented machines have been working on these garbage piles.”

Shri Bhardwaj said, “So if we calculate the price of 23 trommel machines at the rate of Rs. 17.70 lakh per machine, these machines could have been bought for 4 crore rupees. Interestingly, the MCD has spent 26 crore rupees till now to pay the rent of these machines. Rent of 26 crores has already been paid for machines that could have been bought for 4 crores only. Moreover, before any machine is rented out, some calculations are made, and there too, the MCD deliberately presented mala fide calculations. In those calculations, the price of the machine was shown as 64.90 lakh Rupees whereas the actual price is 17.70 lakh, as per the auditor. And after amplifying the prices of various other things, they showcased that it is better to rent these machines instead of buying them because that would be costlier. Opposing this action, the chief auditor had written an entire report explaining how it was beneficial to buy these machines instead of renting them.”

He said, “The MCD had claimed that these machines last for only a year whereas MCD’s chief auditor says that they last for at least 7 to 8 years. The MCD requires these machines for 10s of years because the garbage is continuously coming in. The garbage keeps on collecting in piles and there is a requirement to constantly process it. So, this is a direct corruption of 22 crore rupees. Directly, they have rented machines for Rs 26 crores which could have been easily bought for Rs. 4 crores. Their bar for shamelessness has stooped so low that despite conducting a press conference, raising the issue in the standing committee, and, even after raising it in the house the BJP did not end this contract.” He said, “Now, they have come up with a new contract. As per the agenda of the Standing Committee set to take place tomorrow, let me tell you that now they have changed their ways of robbing. They are now trying a new way of robbery. As per this, they will now pay Rs. 306 per metric tonne of garbage processing to the owners of these trommel machines. And as per this figure, they will now rent 79 such machines. As per the Standing Committee’s report, if a machine runs for 8 hours a day then it will process 6,000 MT of garbage in a month. Accordingly, if a machine processes 6,000 MT of garbage per month, then the MCD will have to pay Rs. 18.36 lakh per month. The rent that they were paying till now, Rs. 6.30 lakh per month; they will now pay Rs. 18.36 lakh per month for the very same machine. They are going to rent these machines for Rs. 18.36 lakh per month when these machines can be easily bought for Rs 17.70 lakh.”

AAP Chief Spokesperson Shri Saurabh Bhardwaj said, “In this way, they will rent 79 machines. These machines will work non-stop and the billing of crores of rupees will be done. Interestingly, all these trommel machines are owned by BJP’s leaders. New companies have been set up by them and the machines from these companies have been rented by the MCD. Rent equal to the actual price of the machine would be given within a month to each machine. If we do a very basic calculation, if these 79 machines are bought it will cost 80 crore rupees. Whereas the rent for mere two years, as decided in the Standing Committee would be 348 crore rupees. So, they will pay the rent of Rs. 348 crore for machines worth Rs. 80 crore within a matter of two years. So, now you can think how much will they be paying for these machines in 10 years. The usual life of these machines is 8-10 years.” Shri Bhardwaj said, “A robbery of crores of rupees is being done openly in the MCD. This money that is being looted not only belongs to the MCD. Delhi Government has a major share in this money being spent by the MCD. Moreover, this figure of Rs. 348 crore that we have quoted is for the North MCD only. If you look at the East and South MCD as well, then it will be an open scam of over 1,000 crore rupees which is written in papers. And to be clear, the price of the machine that I have quoted is according to the report from the Office of the Chief Auditor North, South and East Delhi Municipal Corporation dated 4th December 2020. Their own Chief Auditor has unveiled their robbery and now they plan to loot 3 times more. In the Standing Committee tomorrow, our members from the Aam Aadmi Party will oppose this. Also, in the house as well, we will strongly oppose this because the BJP is now leaving the MCD and they are deliberately signing such contracts so that their people can benefit from it.”

HIGHLIGHTS

• BJP-ruled North MCD will pay Rs. 348 crore as rent for 79 machines that can be bought for Rs. 80 crores: Saurabh Bhardwaj
• If all three MCDs follow this system of renting machines then we are looking at a scam of thousands of crores: Saurabh Bhardwaj
• If a machine processes garbage for 8 hours every day then the MCD will pay Rs. 18.36 lacs rent for it: Saurabh Bhardwaj