GHMC rejects revising garbage collection rates, unauthorised hike continues unchecked

HYDERABAD: The GHMC standing committee on Friday rejected a proposal to revise the user charge for door-to-door garbage collection. Had it been approved, each household in the colonies would have had to pay Rs 100 per month and those in the slums, Rs 50 per month for collection and transportation of garbage at their doorstep.

Regardless of this, many claimed to have been paying more than this amount for several months.

Raj Kumar, vice-president of Manjeeranagar Colony in old Alwal, said that every house in the colony had been paying garbage collectors Rs 150 for five months. "We were asked to pay Rs 150 since January. Before that, we used to pay Rs 100," he said.

Mariam Mahfooz of Paltan slum in Malakpet said that the GHMC staff charged Rs 80 per home but the workers showed up only twice a week and the waste was never segregated.

Chaitanya R.S. said that people in his colony in Tarnaka were told that the rates were revised two months ago. "Since then, those who live in independent and duplex homes pay Rs 120, while multi-storey apartments pay Rs 1150," he said.
Residents in Sainikpuri, Mehdipatnam and Balkampet have been paying close to Rs 130 per month. "We don't get a receipt,” said Kiran Manthan of Tolichowki. “There is frequent absenteeism or they come at ungodly hours."

Others questioned why one must even pay for garbage collection when they pay house tax. "What is the property tax for, if we have to pay for basic amenities? The sanitation workers claimed these collections are what pay them their salaries, and so we never protested after that," said Anurag Reddy of RC Puram in Ameenpur, who has been paying '150 for a year.