CHENNAI: Those waiting to buy or sell waste through the Madras Waste Exchange portal, may have to wait until the end of February, according to Corporation officials. Said to be country’s first online waste exchange portal, the pilot project was launched in December 2019.
However, with Covid taking up most of Corporation’s resources over the last several months, operation and maintenance of the website and mobile application have become difficult, said officials. “The site is still live because we don’t want to lose the momentum we gained after the launch, but we have not been able to process orders in the past months due to Covid,” said a Smart City Project Official.
For now, new registrations are not accepted and those who had registered earlier will be able to login although they won’t be able to place orders. Instead, they are informed of the temporary inconvenience and encouraged to contact buyers or sellers directly.
“However, during the last month, a team has been put in place and we have already resumed work to ready the platform. We will be able to resume operation by the end of February,” the official added. The portal was designed in line with the civic body’s larger aim to reduce the quantum of waste that lands up at Perungudi and Kodungaiyur Dumpyards.