Workers level the Bali yatra venue in Cuttack on Sunday. Picture by Badrika Nath Das
Cuttack, Oct. 8: The short-staffed civic body will outsource clearance of waste generated during this year's Bali yatra to a private company.
Bali yatra, a weeklong annual fair on the Mahanadi banks, attracts footfall of more than five lakh, making it the single largest gathering in the state after rath yatra in Puri. This year's Bali yatra will begin on November 4 and continue till November 10.
The Cuttack Municipal Corporation is in charge of keeping the fair venue clean.
'The civic body will, however, not do the actual solid waste collection. We are going to pay for clearance of the garbage by private contractors from the venue,' municipal commissioner Bikash Mohapatra told The Telegraph, adding that they were already hard-pressed in managing the city's sanitation because of work overload and manpower crunch.
He mentioned that vehicles of the corporation would be used in the work.
Staff shortage has put the civic body in such a spot that now it is being able to dispose of less than 70 per cent of around 400 metric tonnes of solid waste generated in the city every day.
'An increase of more than 100 metric tonnes of waste per day on the Bali yatra grounds will only add to our problems. So, it is better to give the work to a third party,' said an official of the corporation's health wing.
Chairman of the civic body's standing committee for sanitation Ranjan Kumar Biswal also confirmed the decision. 'Outsourcing solid waste clearance will cost us around Rs 4 lakh to Rs 4.5 lakh. We will invite tenders tomorrow,' he said.
The corporation will spend around Rs 25 lakh to prepare the ground for the event by levelling the Mahanadi riverbank and laying morrum roads. Tenders for this will also be invited tomorrow.
All kiosks, especially the eateries, will be asked to dump garbage only at designated points to ensure their smooth collection and disposal.
Besides, two squads of the civic body will also monitor the quality of food being served in the kiosks. 'We will also to keep venue free from polythene,' said Mohapatra.
