Garbage collection to become hi-tech matter

MUMBAI: Following the introduction of its much-vaunted pothole-tracking system, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is gearing up to launch a similar software for garbage collection. This will be a big leap for the civic body, which has been severely criticized for its poor garbage managing system, a noticeable feature of which is contractors’ inefficiency.
The plan is to geo-tag all collection points.Officials of the civic body’s solid waste management department will be entrusted the job of clicking pictures of collection points. This will help the civic headquarters keep a close check on the collection process and identify spots that might be left out. The pictures will be uploaded to a central server and a monitoring team will be set up, which will be responsible for ensuring that collection takes place regularly.
Like in the case of the pothole tracking system, citizens would be allowed to click pictures of uncollected garbage with Android cellphones and upload them online. But the civic body is yet to finalize the modalities of the system, which is likely to be rolled out in three months. Additional municipal commissioner Mohan Adtani told TOI, “The tenders are being finalized. The software will be similar to that of the pothole tracking system. The process of geo-tagging and uploading photographs will help us keep tabs on happenings on the ground.”
At present, the civic body uses an obsolete system, whereby officials of the solid waste management department maintain a logbook. The logbook contains details like the number of rounds made by a particular collection truck and its timings. Because of its nature, the system is susceptible to manipulation.
Congress corporator from Bandra Asif Zakaria said, “It is a welcome move. But it is yet to be seen how it is launched. We all know what has happened with the pothole tracking software. The BMC should come up with a concrete plan that will assure residents that their complaints will be dealt within a fixed period.”
MNS corporator from Dadar Sandeep Deshpande said, “What will be the use of this software in wards that do not have basic infrastructure? In my ward, we do not even have bins or compactors. How will the residents of my ward benefit by this technology?”
Over to the BMC.