‘How can I award contract to blacklisted company without calling for tenders?’ asks Shivakumar

BENGALURU: Reacting to allegations of accepting bribe in garbage disposal tender, Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar asked how he could award a contract to a blacklisted company without calling for tenders.

“No more space has been earmarked for shifting Bangalore’s solid waste disposal centres outside the city. So how can you give a lease to a blacklisted company for 30 years?” D K Shivakumar asked.

DCM DK Shivakumar was responding to media queries near his Sadashivanagar residence on Tuesday.

Responding to questions about the report of awarding a tender for Rs 94,000 crores for 30 years to a blacklisted company related to garbage disposal, Shivakumar said, “A central minister has accused me of accepting a bribe of Rs 15,000 crores in the matter of garbage disposal tender.”

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He said that there has been a report about this in the newspapers as well.

Asked if the lease was given for 30 years, he said, “We are looking for garbage disposal sites. I am struggling to make Nyaya Panchayat to fix the place. How can I award a contract to a blacklisted company without calling for tenders? This issue is in court. They have stopped the garbage disposal process in Mandur for the last three days. I am looking for an alternative place for this. I am talking to an organization for a place near Nice Road.”He said that there are still two or three garbage disposal units to be shifted out of Bangalore.

“I have visited some states and checked how to deal with this problem. We will discuss with the Chief Minister, make a proposal in the Cabinet, then put it before the House, and then decide. Those who have been dealing with garbage for so long without a tender are getting sick after seeing our process,” he said.

He further said that many projects in Bangalore have been proposed. “Before proposing this issue in the Cabinet, we need to discuss with the Chief Minister and Bangalore Ministers. The suggestions received by Brand Bangalore regarding peripheral ring road, solid waste management scheme, flyover, taxation, construction of new roads will be discussed. I can’t make sudden decisions. We should discuss with everyone and decide,” he said.

He further said that the water sharing situation with Tamil Nadu is improving. (ANI)