Garbage strewn at the Pataliputra area in Patna on Thursday. Picture by Ashok Sinha

The city, in all likelihood, would continue to stink this monsoon as bidding for the ambitious Patna solid waste management project is stuck in a limbo seven months after it was initiated.

Numerous bottlenecks in the bidding process have forced Patna Municipal Corporation (PMC) to float the project’s tender a third time. A source in the civic body said fresh tenders would be floated soon.

Going by the bitter experience of the first two attempts, it is unlikely the project would see actual progress in the coming two-three months, when monsoon would be at its peak. There would not be any door-to-door collection of garbage or any additional equipment to cart trash away from streets because of the delay in the execution of the waste management project under the centrally sponsored Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM).

A prelude to what the city can expect this monsoon was seen during rain earlier this week when garbage lay rotting everywhere. It was even floating with the rainwater in the Kankerbagh, Rajendra Nagar, Kadamkuan, Gardanibagh and Ashiana Nagar areas.

The source in the civic body attributed the delay in bidding for the project to lack of experts. The PMC initiated bidding last October for the two components of the solid waste management project — supply of municipal application equipment and vehicles, and door-to-door collection and transport of municipal solid waste. Later, a pre-bid meeting of the intending firms was held at PMC’s headquarters in Mauryalok on November 22 and 23 the same year.

“The queries and suggestions received from the bidders during the pre-bid meeting were sent to technical experts in the state urban development and housing department for review. After making required modifications in the clauses of the project, fresh bid documents were sent back to us. Since, the clauses were modified, we were required to get fresh approval to the project from the empowered standing committee and the board, which took around two months. Thereafter, re-tender was done,” said a senior engineer in PMC.

He said during the technical evaluation of the bids received after the re-tender, only two firms were shortlisted. “Later, only one firm was selected. However, it was decided to cancel the bidding process because of some financial issues and float a tender a third time,” said the PMC engineer.

Residents are expectedly annoyed. “The stretch of Kurgi Road from Ganga Apartment to Rajapur Pul is marked by heaps of garbage scattered on the roadside. The condition is similar in most other roads. It has started to rain and the stench from damp garbage is making it difficult for one to pass through such roads. I don’t understand why the government isn’t executing the waste project, when it has money,” said Pranav Kumar, a resident of Kurji.