Communist councillors walk out against solid waste mgmt privatization

CHENNAI: The communist councillors walked out from the council meeting held on Friday in protest against the move to privatise solid waste management collection in zones 4-6 and 8 (Tondiarpet, Royapuram, Thiru Vi Ka Nagar, Anna Nagar zones). The ward members stated that it would affect the sanitary workers under the Chennai corporation, and they will be paid less when it is privatized.

R Jayaraman, ward 4 councillor said, "Already 11 zones are handed over to the private contractors, and through privatization they would loot a huge amount of money. The sanitary workers belonging to the below poverty line are paid less, as the remaining zone will also be privatized, they would be paid even less now for at least five workers. This would impact the conservancy workers of solid waste management, and some might even lose the job."

"In 2021, when the issue of privatization was raised, MLA Sekar Babu along with MLAs sent a letter to the then opposition leader and the current Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin to the then Greater Chennai Corporation commissioner Prakash stating not to privatize zones of 4,5,6,7. In this case, now it seems that the corporation will hand over the 4, 5, 6, and 8 zones under private companies, " he added.

The Madras Corporation red flag union staged a protest at the Ripon Building and gave a petition to Chennai mayor R Priya and requested to address the issue in the council meeting. They mentioned that during the COVID-19 pandemic the privatized zones for solid waste management there was no proper waste management in the city.

Priya said, "By privatizing solid waste management collection in the city it would be done at a fast pace. Also, the sanitary workers' jobs will not be affected due to the change in the contractors."

The ward members of CPIM – Jayaraman, P Vimala (ward 41), A Priyadharshini of ward 98, and ward 123 councillor M Saraswathi were not satisfied with the response and action by the civic body authorities, so they walked out from the council meeting.