The Thane Municipal Corporation has floated a Rs 3,300 crore tender for a 10-year integrated cleanliness and waste-management system, placing household waste collection, transportation, road sweeping and waste processing under three contractors across the city’s major zones.
The municipal administration said payments will be linked to performance rather than being released as a fixed amount. Half of each monthly bill will cover fixed costs, while the remaining 50% will depend on performance standards. Deductions will be made if deficiencies are found during daily monitoring, according to the report.
The tender follows approval of the proposal by the municipal general body. The new arrangement is expected to become operational in the new year, although the report does not specify the exact start date or the timeline for appointing the contractors.
Thane covers 128 square kilometres and has a population of more than 2.7 million. The city’s residential expansion, industrial activity, information-technology sector and ongoing development work also bring an estimated 300,000 to 400,000 people into the city each day. This contributes to daily solid-waste generation of approximately 1,500 to 1,600 metric tonnes.
At present, door-to-door collection, waste transportation and road sweeping operate through separate systems and contractors. Collection vehicles and waste carriers are also working on a rental basis. The corporation has cited shortcomings in this fragmented arrangement as the reason for moving towards an integrated cleanliness system.
Under the new structure, Thane will be divided into three zones, with one contractor responsible for all cleanliness-related work in each zone. The first zone will include Diva, Mumbra and Kalwa, with an estimated 10-year expenditure of Rs 1,103 crore. The second will cover Majiwada-Manpada, Vartak Nagar and Lokmanya-Sawarkar Nagar, where the projected cost is Rs 1,169 crore.
The third zone will comprise Uthalsar, Naupada-Kopri and Wagle areas, with an estimated cost of Rs 1,027 crore over 10 years. The three projected package costs total Rs 3,299 crore, broadly corresponding to the corporation’s stated Rs 3,300 crore tender value.
The contractors will be responsible for door-to-door waste collection, transportation, manual and mechanised road sweeping, market cleaning, special cleanliness work in slum areas, public awareness activities and waste segregation. The system will classify waste into wet, dry, hazardous and special-care categories.
The corporation has set an objective of processing 100% of the collected waste. The tender is also reported to draw on the model used in Chennai, although the supplied report does not provide further details about the specific operational practices being adopted from that city.
The contract’s proposed performance-linked payment model will make daily recording of work and verification of service levels central to implementation. The report said Municipal Commissioner Saurabh Rao was contacted for a response but could not be reached. The next formal steps are the tender process, selection of the three contractors and the proposed rollout of the integrated system in the new year.
