BMC takes Navi Mumbai route, single contractor to carry out waste disposal

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has adopted Navi Mumbai's model of garbage collection. The model was implemented in three wards from Tuesday. Now onward, garbage collection in Knadivli (west), Borivali, and Dahisar will be carried out by a single contractor.

In addition, the garbage collection trucks and bins will have RFID chips to monitor the collection. The civic body has sought six months time to fix the chips.

In order to make the contractors more accountable for garbage collection, the civic body awarded contract of garbage collection and dumping to one contractor. As of now, it has been implemented in three wards as a pilot project. "We will also apply the same process in Mulund if it turns out to be successful," said a senior official from Solid Waste Management (SWM) of BMC.

The Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) has been using this process and it has been quite successful. The civic body was also lauded by the central government under cleanliness survey 2018 for managing solid waste scientifically.

The BMC standing committee had already approved the proposal in May this year, with a provision of RFID tags attached to the garbage bins in R (north, south and central) and T wards, as a pilot project. "It will be executed in an inclusive manner, which will entail providing garbage bins, lifting the trash, and carrying it to the dumpyard, too," said the official. All of this will be done by a single party. DNA had first reported about this project in March last year.

"This will make contractors more responsible and we will be able to track the garbage through the RFID tags," said the official.

"All vehicles that will carry garbage will be equipped with a GPS system to track if garbage is being dumped at the right place. Information on the movements of the vehicle will be just a click away," the official added.

At present, the whole process is carried out by multiple contractors, which leads to accountability issues at various stages.

Around 600 metric tonne of garbage is generated in all three R wards and around 300 civic workers are involved in the work. "Despite investing money and manpower, garbage lifting remains an issue," said the official. The BMC has given the turn-key contract at Rs 550 crore for seven years.