Mayor objects to user charges for waste management in Delhi

New Delhi: Delhi mayor Mahesh Kumar wrote to chief minister Rekha Gupta, opposing the imposition of user charges for solid waste management. In his letter on Wednesday, the mayor emphasised that before implementing such charges, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) must establish an effective door-to-door waste collection system, which is currently lacking.
The issue sparked a controversy, with the BJP, in opposition in the MCD, accusing Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) of deliberately imposing the surcharge.
"A similar surcharge was proposed earlier in 2021 by the then commissioner of the corporation, but the BJP mayor at that time halted its implementation. In contrast, the current AAP Mayor Mahesh Kumar is merely issuing statements without taking any action," said Delhi BJP spokesperson Praveen Shankar Kapoor.
The mayor, on the other hand, alleged that the proposal to collect user charges along with house tax was never passed by the MCD. In his post on ‘X', he stated that the proposal was not brought before the House and was instead implemented behind the scenes by municipal commissioner Ashwani Kumar.