BMC TO SET UP CONTROL ROOM TO MONITOR WASTE TRUCKS

MUMBAI: The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is planning to set up a high-tech control room, on the lines of its disaster management cell, to keep a close watch on its garbage trucks.

The move is a part of the BMC’S efforts to revamp the solid waste management department (SWM) ever since the ₹900-crore garbage scam was unearthed in 2016. Officials believe this move will stop corrupt practices of contractors.

As per the proposal, the control room will receive inputs from several sources which will be monitored directly by the additional municipal commissioner Vijay Singhal or chief engineer of SWM, Suman Waikar. “The control room will be built at an approximate cost of ₹18-20 crore and will probably be located at the BMC headquarters in Fort or the BMC engineers’ hub in Worli. The control room is likely be started from this year-end.” said Singhal.

To keep a tab on contractors, BMC has so far placed radio-frequency identification (RFID) tags on garbage bins, set up a vehicle tracking system (VTS) to track garbage trucks and also installed CCTVS on the trucks. All these inputs will also be sent to the control room. “During an official visit to Germany, we saw this and thought of replicating it in Mumbai,” said Singhal. He said BMC has been consulting expert companies like Larsen and Toubro for the same. He also said the recent reforms have paid off as the current contract cost for lifting garbage has gone down by ₹400 crores since 2012. “Earlier in 2012, BMC paid garbage lifting contractors ₹2,200 crore. It has come down to ₹1,700 crore in 2018.”

Although BMC claims it has cracked down on tainted contractors, it now plans to extend the contracts of old contractors by six months. This includes a few who were given notices for duping BMC. Singhal said, “We need to give six months to the next contractors to mobilise new vehicles which will have a compartment for e-waste. The new vehicles will have a longer shelf life.”

BMC ALSO PLANS TO LAUNCH AN APP WHICH WILL LET CONTRACTORS PICK UP DRY WASTE FROM CITIZENS’ HOMES. HOWEVER, THE PLAN IS AT A NASCENT STAGE