BHAWANIPATNA: Giving a ‘smart’ makeover to solid waste management, Bhawanipatna Municipality has flagged off 20 e-rickshaws. Funded under the Swachh Bharat Mission, six battery-operated e-rickshaws have been rolled out in the first phase with an investment of ` 16 lakhs with 20 other rickshaws in the pipeline.
The rickshaws, manned by members of women self-help groups (SHGs), were unveiled by Leader of Opposition Pradipta Kumar Naik. “Each rickshaw will collect dry and wet waste from 600 households in two separate compartments attached to it. Maintenance and salaries of the lady drivers and helpers, who are undergoing training, will be paid from user fees collected from households and returns from the waste processing units,” said Biswambar Mishra, executive officer of Bhawanipatna Municipality.
The collected wet materials will be processed at the recently-opened micro compost centre of the municipality. The compost will be sold to forest department nurseries. Similarly, dry waste will be dumped at the micro processing centres. It will be segregated and after the sale of saleable items, the rest will be sold to the Bargarh cement factory to be used as fuel for the furnaces, as per agreement.