The Hindu              01.07.2013

Waste collection to be improved

The way the Coimbatore Corporation conservancy workers and sanitary supervisors handle solid waste will undergo a sea change in the next few days, when the civic body launches the improved waste collection system.

There will be a marked improvement in waste management in another 10 days or so, says Commissioner G. Latha.

At present, the 30-odd sanitary supervisors along with the drivers of the lorries that carry waste are preparing a route map they will pass on to the Assistant Commissioners of the five zones.

After they verify the same, they will place the route maps for the Commissioner's approval.

Under the new system, the Corporation will number each of the 3,400-odd bins in the city.

Along with the bin number, the civic body will also mention the mobile phone number of the sanitary supervisor of the ward concerned and the mobile phone number for grievance redress.

Plus, the bin will also sport the time and frequency of cleaning – daily, twice weekly or once a week.

Ms. Latha says that as and when residents find that bins have not been emptied at the given time, they should first call the sanitary supervisor. And if that does not help, the residents can then message the complaint to the grievance redress system number.

The new waste management system does not end here, though. The Commissioner says that the Corporation has developed android-based mobile application to ensure efficacy in removing and transporting garbage.

The Corporation will give the application-installed android phone to sanitary supervisors, who will have to go to the bin at the scheduled time and day to ensure that it has been cleaned. They will have to use the application to say at what time the bin was cleaned and who the driver was. They will also have to state what the approximate weight was.

The sanitary supervisors' message will go to a server and will be there for the officials to check if the data entered is right or wrong. The Corporation will also cross verify the details at the drivers' end and sanitary inspectors will monitor their movements as the lorries engaged in transporting garbage come fitted with vehicle tracking system.

Ms. Latha says that people on the ground will have to work and they cannot go scot free without working.

Deputy Commissioner S. Sivarasu says that android application has crossed the testing stage and software engineers engaged in the task will upload the application onto the phones in the next couple of days.