Thane: Most ‘hi-tech’ bins installed recently defunct sans power

THANE: Most of the ‘hi-tech’ garbage bins installed by the

Thane Municipal Corporation

(TMC) for collection of waste two months ago are lying defunct with no power supply.

The TMC had promised that using the bins would win citizens an array of freebies like discount coupons and a chance to win a gold coin.

The installation of the bins was part of the phase one of the project. Civic officials said that most of them are inaccessible due to lack of electrical connection because of which residents cannot scan the code, log on to the mobile application and claim their rewards.

A civic official said, “Although the pilot project was installed near Cadbury junction the work of setting up other bins took place simultaneously. Only some kiosks are in working condition currently as we are facing issues of lack of power in the others. We had a meeting recently with the concerned electricity department and will be making the facility available to users soon. As there is a sensor located inside the kiosk, the whole idea was to lure residents to deposit litter in the bins so that they can scan the unique code displayed on the machine and later send the code to the mobile application to receive rewards. Since there is no electricity residents are unable to avail these facilities.”

Asian Gallant, a Mumbai-based start-up that has been hired to maintain and operate the system claimed that they are happy with the response after having collected 70 tonnes of garbage over the past two months.

Abhijit Deokar, founder of the bin, said, “Despite the services not being fully functional presently, we have collected 70 tonnes of waste till date. Meanwhile we are working on improving our mobile application so when the bins are ready we can reach out to the residents easily. We will also conduct an awareness campaign because while collecting the waste we found out that people are not segregating the trash into the four categories mentioned at the kiosk — dry/wet waste, plastic and other waste. We are hopeful that the issues get solved soon.”

The first kiosk was launched in June by the civic body at Pokhran Road 1 after which 70 more facilities were set up along the roadside at several pockets in the city namely Masunda/Upvan lake, Pachpakhadi area to name a few.

As there is a sensor located inside the kiosk, the whole idea was to lure residents to deposit litter in the bins so that they can scan the unique code displayed on the machine and later send it to the mobile application to get rewards. Since there is no electricity residents are unable to avail these facilities

Despite the services not being fully functional presently, we have collected 70 tonnes of waste till date. Meanwhile we are working on improving our mobile application so when the bins are ready we can reach out to the residents easily. We will also educate citizens about segregating dry and wet waste