Patna, Sept. 12: The Patna Municipal Corporation (PMC) is struggling to keep the city spick and span after A2Z Infrastructure Pvt. Limited suspended garbage collection, but a decision on the future of the deal between the civic body and the private firm is not in sight.

A senior officer of the state urban development department told The Telegraph: “A probe is on to assess the matter (deal) from all angles. It is difficult to say at this stage what will be the fate of the agreement between the PMC and the private company.”

A report tabled by PMC commissioner in the corporation board meeting questioning the “shady way by which the PMC commissioner then signed the agreement with the private company”, has complicated the situation further. The report prepared by a six-member committee highlights various irregularities in the deal. K. Senthil Kumar, a 1996 batch IAS officer, headed the PMC when the agreement between the two parties was signed in January, 2010.

Gurgaon-based A2Z Infrastructure Pvt. Ltd suspended its garbage collection work from July 21 when PMC raised question mark over its performance. Later, the civic body referred the matter to the urban development department. A vigilance case was also lodged against the company on charges of breach of contract and over-billing.

The firm was assigned the job of garbage collection from nine wards in the New Capital circle of the city and nine main streets. It suspended its services after serving a notice to the government stating that it was not financially viable for the company to continue with the job in the wake of non-payment of dues. The firm also made it clear that it would not resume its services till 75 per cent of its total bills were cleared .

The civic body is hard-pressed after the private firm suspend its garbage collection work, but its officials claimed to have lived up to the expectations of the people.

“The wards are as clean as they used to be. We are coping with the situation to the best of our capacity. At present, four extra compacters and 10 hydraulic tractors are used to cart garbage from 29 wards in the New Capital circle every day. In addition to that, the frequency of vehicles carting garbage has been increased. Earlier, 25 workers were deployed at each of the 29 wards under the circle. Now, the number of workers has been increased to 30. Ten extra workers have been pressed into service at ward number 28, which houses upscale localities,” said Sheshank Shekhar Sinha, the executive officer of the New Capital circle.