Rs 28,800 per dustbin gets BMC standing committee nod
Rs 28,800 for a community dustbin. That is what the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) will spend on purchasing and installing 1,400 dustbins, the total cost touching Rs 403 crore for a contract period of one year. Despite dissenting voices in the civic standing committee meeting on Wednesday, the proposal to buy these dustbins was passed.
Officials said the bins are of a high quality and galvanized to make them corrosion-resistant.
There are already 5,800 such bins at 3,700 collection spots in the city, from where over 1,200 vehicles collect garbage and transport it to dumping grounds. The BMC spends over Rs 250 crore a year for garbage collection and disposal. The earlier price set aside for the bins was Rs 32,800, the total cost amounting to Rs 4.59 crore.
When the proposal was put up in the committee meeting on Wednesday, corporators asked the administration to explaining why the bins were so expensive. Also, they asked the BMC on how they would ensure the bins are not stolen like the earlier plastic ones.
Congress corporator Waqarunissa Ansari said, “The amount is ridiculously high. How will BMC make sure these bins are not stolen at night?”
Each bin will weigh about 210 kg and have a capacity to hold 1.1 cubic meters of waste. The city generates about 6,500 tonne of waste everyday. The material costs about Rs 110 per kg and each dustbin will have wheels costing about Rs 4,000.
“The bins are galvanized and cannot be damaged by corrosion. The price ranges between Rs 27,000 and Rs 31,000 in the market. We are definitively getting it at a competitive price,” said B P Patil, chief engineer, solid waste management department. He added these bins will not get corroded for at least four years.
Rahul Shewale, chairman of the civic standing committee, said, “The cost of the bins is two per cent higher than last year’s rate because of galvanized metal. The bins last longer than an iron bin.”