An RTI query filed by a resident of Indirapuram has opened a can of worms for the Ghaziabad Development Authority (GDA). It has been forced to admit, in response, that the same individuals operating two different companies have been awarded maintenance contracts for the entire Indirapuram region year after year.
The query, filed by Alok Kumar in May 2016, the president of the Federation of Apartment Owners Association (FedAOA), asked the GDA to provide details of the companies appointed for the upkeep of the residential areas of Indirapuram. The response — a staggering 1,415-page reply.
Just a little online digging around revealed that some of the companies, such as Florida Facilities Management and Willbrose Hitech Infrastructure Pvt Ltd, are, in fact, owned by the same people. These two companies are being allotted work in turns, despite complaints that the work is not getting done.
The reply makes it clear that despite regular complaints from the residents regarding the lax attitude of the maintenance company, the GDA has been repeatedly hiring the same companies since 2013.
It describes at length the role these companies play in the maintenance of Indirapuram. Apart from cleaning and maintaining the roads, lanes and drainage systems of the area, the GDA-approved BOQ (bills of quantity) also include issues such as door-to-door collection of garbage from homes, villages, schools, hospitals and other places of the township. It also mentions that the appointed company must provide every household with 60 garbage bags every month — 30 green and 30 blue — for separate disposal of different kinds of garbage. The bills also talk of the amount of taxpayers’ money spent by the GDA on the upkeep of Indirapuram.
However, residents have a different tale to tell. Most of the residents and resident bodies, such as AOAs, are unaware of such provisions by the GDA. They spoke to City Spidey about how the society management has to employ housekeeping agencies and dole out lakhs every year just to get rid of the daily garbage. Residents allege that the GDA officials have been siphoning off taxpayers’ money.
City Spidey took up the matter with Chakresh Jain, the superintendent engineer of GDA. “I took charge recently, hence I am yet to acquaint myself with all the issues. Also, I have been keeping busy with the drainage and sewer crisis in Indirapuram. I will surely look into the matter," he said.
