Delhi Mayor writes to CM over user charges, calls it burden on citizens | Latest News Delhi

New Delhi, Delhi Mayor Mahesh Kumar has written to Chief Minister Rekha Gupta and objected to the decision to impose user charges for solid waste management.

The mayor has called it an undue burden on the public.

A political row has erupted over the imposition of user charges for solid waste management by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi .

The mayor alleged that the proposal to collect user charges along with house tax was never passed by the MCD.

“The proposal was not brought before the House and was instead implemented behind the scenes by Municipal Commissioner Ashwani Kumar. This decision goes against the interests of Delhi’s residents,” he said in his letter.

Kumar said the MCD must ensure that door-to-door services are provided to public before imposing user charges.

The work of the concessionaire garbage collection companies in all 12 zones is unsatisfactory, resulting in heaps of garbage everywhere, he added.

The mayor said the situation is currently worse in the western zone, central zone and southern zone.

There has been no coordination between the concessionaires and those who collect garbage from homes privately, said Kumar, adding sixty to seventy per cent of the garbage is collected through private services.

“Until the Delhi Municipal Corporation is fully capable of collecting garbage from every house, it will not be appropriate to impose such user charges,” he said.

The mayor urged Gupta to immediately direct the MCD to withdraw the decision, stating that citizens are already grappling with inflation and deserve relief, not additional financial pressure.

Earlier this week, the mayor also wrote to the commissioner in this regard and indicated that legal options were being explored.

Addressing a press conference earlier on Monday, he claimed the MCD has failed to provide the promised door-to-door garbage collection services despite the residents already being burdened with high taxes.

In response, the MCD issued a clarification, stating that the Government of NCT of Delhi had notified the Solid Waste Management Bye-laws, 2017, through Gazette Notifications dated January 15, 2018, for the then erstwhile three Corporations.

According to these Bye-laws, a user fee is to be collected for services related to garbage collection, transportation and disposal of solid waste. The fee was uniform across all three erstwhile Corporations and is currently being enforced.

“The implementation of the SWM Rules, 2016, is being monitored by the Hon’ble Supreme Court in W.P. No. 13029/1985 in the matter of “M.C. Mehta vs. Union of India & Others,” the statement added. PTI NSM AS

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