Nagpur: A significant drop in the quantity of municipal solid waste being collected across Nagpur has sparked fresh questions over the functioning of the Nagpur Municipal Corporation’s (NMC) door-to-door garbage collection system. While the civic administration may view the decline as an operational statistic, critics are asking a more uncomfortable question: Has the city suddenly begun generating less waste, or has the alleged practice of inflating garbage weight by mixing soil and stones finally been curbed?
The debate has intensified after official figures revealed a sharp reduction in garbage collected by the city’s two waste collection contractors, AG Enviro and BVG India, within just four months. The decline comes close on the heels of repeated allegations by elected representatives that inert materials were allegedly being mixed with household waste to artificially increase its weight and, in turn, inflate payments made to the contractors.
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According to NMC records, AG Enviro, which manages garbage collection in Zones 1 to 5, collected 24,459 metric tonnes (MT) of waste in April. The collection reduced to 23,812 MT in May, plunged to 20,137 MT in June, and slightly recovered to 21,764 MT in July. Overall, the agency’s monthly collection has dropped by 2,695 MT compared to April.
The trend is even more pronounced in the case of BVG India, which operates in Zones 6 to 10. The agency collected 25,646 MT in April, followed by 24,665 MT in May, 23,150 MT in June, and 21,869 MT in July. This translates into a decline of 3,777 MT over the four-month period.
Collectively, the two agencies have reported a reduction of more than 6,400 metric tonnes in monthly garbage collection between April and July. Zone-wise data also indicates that the city’s daily waste collection has fallen by nearly 150 to 200 metric tonnes, a decline that has surprised civic observers.
The timing of this reduction has added fuel to the controversy.
For months, corporators and public representatives have alleged serious irregularities in the city’s waste collection mechanism. One of the most serious allegations has been that soil, stones and other inert materials were allegedly mixed with municipal waste before weighing, thereby increasing the recorded tonnage and enabling contractors to claim higher payments from the civic body.
Although these allegations have been repeatedly raised in the General Body and committee meetings, the issue gained statewide attention after Central Nagpur MLA Pravin Datke raised it in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly during the Monsoon Session. Taking cognisance of the allegations, the State Government ordered an inquiry into the matter.
The controversy further escalated during the District Planning Committee (DPC) meeting on July 28, where Guardian Minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule reportedly expressed strong displeasure over the functioning of the waste collection agencies. He warned that if their performance and accountability did not improve, the government would not hesitate to terminate their contracts.
The sudden fall in garbage collection figures has now become the centre of public debate. If Nagpur’s waste generation has genuinely reduced by several thousand metric tonnes within four months, experts say it would represent an unprecedented achievement in urban waste management. However, if the decline reflects stricter monitoring that has prevented the alleged addition of non-waste materials during weighing, it would reinforce concerns that the city’s garbage quantities may have been artificially inflated earlier.
Environmental experts point out that municipal waste generation in a city the size of Nagpur generally remains stable, with only marginal seasonal variations. A steep decline over such a short period, they say, warrants scientific scrutiny and independent verification.
The controversy has also revived demands for a comprehensive audit of garbage collection records, weighbridge data, GPS tracking of collection vehicles, and payments made to contractors over the past several years. Civic activists argue that unless the inquiry establishes whether public money was wrongly paid based on inflated garbage quantities, the truth behind Nagpur’s disappearing waste will remain buried beneath the city’s garbage.
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