Civic officials are struggling for four months to complete the paperwork required to clear the garbage management project for the city.

The Centre sanctioned the money for the project six years ago. But the money has not been used because the Patna Municipal Corporation (PMC) has not yet completed the required paper work.

The urban development and housing department on February 25 had asked the PMC to execute the solid waste management project for the city. But the corporation is yet to finalise the tender documents, leave apart inviting bids for procurement of equipment for garbage collection.

More than 120 days have passed after the directive from the urban development and housing department. The PMC is yet to make minor changes in the 89-page bid document.

This is despite the fact that the detailed tender documents, including the 89-page request for proposal for the project, were already prepared by Bihar Urban Infrastructure Document Corporation (BUIDCo). It was at the disposal of the PMC all this time.

The empowered PMC standing committee on Saturday gave its in-principal approval for finalisation of the bid documents. It has demanded details on the tender documents to be presented before it in the next meeting before allowing the biding.

“We would not give the go-ahead for bidding, as the corporation might float the tenders arbitrarily. The civic body is required to make certain changes to the bid documents prepared by BUIDCo, for which the work is still going on. Once the final bid documents are presented before us, the standing committee would give its nod to float the tenders,” said Abha Lata, a member of the standing committee and the councillor of ward No. 4.

Asked about the delay in finalisation of the tender documents, Lata said: “The commissioner of the corporation has changed twice over the past four months. This has slowed down the project progress.”

Ministry of urban development had approved the project under Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) on March 28, 2007, at an estimated outlay of Rs 36.95 crore.

According to the project implementation status dated May 28, 2013, against the first instalment of Rs 4.62 crore released on May 8, 2007, Rs 2.05 crore, amounting to 6 per cent of the total project cost, was utilised till then.

“It is shameful for the municipal corporation that it has not been able to execute a project for over six years. It neither has the efficiency, nor the attitude to work. The civic body does not listen to the high court or the Supreme Court. Ward councillors, on the other hand, expect commission in every project,” said R.S. Choudhary, former chief town planner, who had also worked with the civic body.