Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar:
The cash-strapped Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar Municipal Corporation (CSMC) is now financially burdened after the court directed the civic administration to pay Rs 25 crore and settle a dispute with the petitioner - Ramky Company. Acting upon the order, the CSMC paid Rs 5 crore in July and will have to pay Rs 10 crore each in August and September.
The CSMC has appointed Ramky for lifting garbage management in 2012. Later on, the agreement got scrapped. Hence Ramky challenged the decision before the arbitrator and then the court claiming for its dues and outstanding.
The court ordered the CSMC to pay Rs 37 crore to the company. However, the amount includes heavy interest. Hence the initiative to settle the dispute with the Ramky was underway. Their efforts yielded results and it was mutually agreed to settle the dispute on payment of
Rs 25 crore. Later on, a committee of civic officials was established to decide the payment. The CSMC got ready to pay in two phases (90 pc and 10 pc). However, when the issue came into public, there was a hue and cry and it remained undecided since then.
One thing is for sure that the development works of the city will get affected due to the above payment.
The municipal corporation and Ramky had signed a 10 year agreement to lift and transport garbage from the source. When things were going on smoothly, the public representatives in the corporation and the civic administration decided to cancel the agreement. The corporation had also not made the payment. Ramky then claimed Rs 37 crore as its compensation against the loss.