The first air-tight vehicle was brought to the city on Thursday which would begin service from Monday. The body of the vehicle has been altered to suit the requirements of the Corporation.

If found suitable, nine more vehicles would soon arrive or else minor changes would again be made in the design and relaunched again.

The inner container of the vehicle is made of stainless steel so as to avoid rusting of the interior owing to leakage.

As of now, the Corporation has 43 tipper lorries to transport garbage from the city to Vilappilsala. It carries around 250 tonnes of garbage per day. On a single day, almost 45 trips are made.

Owing to widespread complaints about the stench wafting from the lorries, the transportation is usually done at night. Though Kudumbasree workers dump the garbage at daytime, the waste remains almost 24 hours in the lorries by the time it is transported to Vilappilsala in the night. The work is done between 10 p.m. and 3 a.m. to avoid inconvenience to the public.

The highlight of the air-tight vehicles is that the transportation can be done at daytime, giving a much-needed reprive to the lorry drivers.

‘’In the first phase, ten such vehicles will be launched. Initially, it would be used to collect waste from markets and public places, where the stench causes much problems to the public,’’ said G.R.Anil, Corporation Health Standing Committee chairman.

The ten air-tight vehicles cost Rs 1.89 crore and has been funded under the JNNURM project. The vehicles have been supplied by Super Body Builders, Perumbavoor, and has been modified by an Engineer of the PWD.