Bhubaneswar to Fully Privatise Sanitation Services Across All 67 Wards
The Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) has taken a significant step towards fully privatising sanitation services across the city. A proposal has been sent to the state government seeking approval to phase out the BMC’s own sanitation workforce from the remaining three wards that are still handled by regular staff. Currently, out of the 67 wards in Bhubaneswar, 64 are serviced through private agencies, while sanitation work in three wards is carried out by the BMC’s own employees. If the proposal is approved, all 67 wards will be managed by specialised private agencies on a daily basis, according to BMC officials.
BMC Additional Commissioner Kailash Chandra Dash confirmed that the corporation has written to the government seeking permission to privatise sanitation work in the last three wards. “We saw earlier that after private agencies took over the wards, there was a professional approach to sanitisation. Private agencies could micro-manage sanitation and ground employees both,” Dash explained. He clarified that the move would not involve disengaging BMC’s regular sanitation workers or attaching them to private agencies. “We rather will use their services in different BMC ward offices,” he said.
Officials stated that the shift is aimed at improving professionalism and effectiveness in addressing daily sanitation issues, including sweeping, waste collection, and segregation. Currently, seven private agencies are engaged across different wards to handle manual and mechanical sweeping, door-to-door waste collection, and segregation. Each agency deploys roughly 1,000 sanitation workers, forming the bulk of the city’s sanitation workforce. At present, the total strength of sanitation workers engaged in Bhubaneswar’s sanitation system is around 7,000, officials said.
The corporation plans to redeploy the regular sanitation staff from the three wards proposed for privatisation to other areas where manpower is needed. “We have requirement of manpower in our ward offices,” an official said. The BMC intends to use the redeployed workers for daily cleaning and housekeeping at its city health office and the offices of zonal deputy commissioners. This strategic move is expected to enhance the overall efficiency and accountability of sanitation services in the city, ensuring a cleaner and healthier environment for residents.
