Spanish company to manage Chennai’s wastes from Thursday

CHENNAI: In a move aimed at benefitting 37 lakh people living across seven zones in Chennai city, Spanish firm Urbaser Sumeet is all set to take over solid waste management on an eight-year contract, from October 1. Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami, on Wednesday flagged off a fleet of waste management equipment, including 125 compactors, 38 mechanical sweepers, 3,000 e-rickshaws for waste collection and 11,000 compactor dustbins with 10,844 staff. 

The project will cover Teynampet, Kodambakkam, Valasaravakkam, Alandur, Adyar, Perungudi and Sholinganallur zones. According to an official statement, 100% source segregation is expected to be achieved in all these zones in a year. “We will start work in zone 13 (Adyar) from Thursday and the rest of the zones will be covered before December. It is a phased initiation,” Mahmood Sait, CEO of Urbaser-Sumeet, told Express.  

The firm, which was issued work orders by the Corporation in December last year, has  handled conservancy operations in Spain, France, Italy, England, Oman, Brazil, Argentina, Chile and Peru, apart from Delhi. In the backdrop of corruption charges levelled against Ramky Enviro Engineers Limited which was earlier handling solid waste management in Adyar, Kodambakkam and Teynampet, it has been decided to pay Urbaser Sumeet based on performance under 34 indicators, Corporation officials said. 

According to Sait, the firm, as a service provider, will be looking at creating awareness of segregating waste among the public. Penalty is likely to be levied on those who fail to segregate waste. “Our battery-operated-vehicles (for collection of waste) come with six bins built for wet, dry and domestic hazardous waste. The drivers will tell residents how they need to segregate the waste. A 24x7 call centre will also be set up at Alandur, where school students will be encouraged to observe how waste is handled and monitored,” Sait said. 

Express had earlier reported that the key performance indicators framed by the Corporation include primary collection, street sweeping and collection, secondary collection and transportation and complaint redressal  within six hours (except redressal of complaints for replacement or retrofitting of assets which may be done within 24 hours). A third party consultant will monitor their performance, covering 92 wards and 16,621 streets under the seven zones. The Corporation collects an average of 5,000 tonnes of waste every day.

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