CAG blows lid off UP waste management scam: Crores lost, rules flouted, projects stalled

Uttar Pradesh’s solid waste management system is rotting from the inside—quite literally. A blistering audit by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has revealed how the Yogi Adityanath government’s first term was marred by financial irregularities, blatant violation of rules, and deliberate delays that cost the state crores while flagship schemes like Swachh Bharat Mission failed to deliver on the ground.

From the corridors of power in Lucknow to the offices of municipal bodies, the report paints a picture of neglect, mismanagement, and cronyism. Budgets were approved but held back for months, contractors were overpaid, banned plastic piled up in storage, and critical waste plants remained idle because the government did not release funds for machinery.

The numbers are staggering. Between 2014 and 2022, of the 45 civic bodies audited, only three had prepared waste management plans. Half the sanitation inspector posts lay vacant. Ghaziabad and Lucknow failed to collect Rs 71 crore from waste collection services. Hathras overpaid a firm Rs 30.32 lakh, while Loni Nagar Palika in Ghaziabad padded its manpower count to hand a contractor an extra Rs 3.68 crore.

Infrastructure was missing in most towns. Nearly 90 per cent of municipalities lacked weighbridges to measure garbage. Of 32 approved processing plants, just 15 functioned.

In Lucknow, the much-hyped Shivri waste plant was shut for 409 days between 2019 and 2020—yet the private contractor, M/s Ecogreen Energy Pvt Ltd, was still paid Rs 5.28 crore for “processing” during the shutdown. CAG auditors say bills were padded with inflated waste quantities. They have called for action against the officials who signed off on them.

The rot runs deep. At the 2019 Prayagraj Kumbh, Rs 95.28 lakh was paid without a contract to M/s Hari Bhari Recycling Pvt Ltd for disposing of 10,000 tonnes of legacy waste. A Rs 15 lakh “loan” for fertiliser packaging was quietly written off. Not a rupee was recovered.

And while the state’s solid waste management budget ballooned from Rs 74.49 crore in 2016–17 to a staggering Rs 1,650.67 crore in 2021–22, much of the money never reached the ground. Delays in fund release ranged from two months to over three years, paralysing projects and leaving garbage to rot in open, unlicensed trucks.

The CAG warns that without strict monitoring from district to state level, operationalising all waste plants, and timely release of funds, schemes like Swachh Bharat will remain nothing more than press release promises. For now, the smell of mismanagement hangs heavy over Uttar Pradesh—and it’s not going away soon.