THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: In a major achievement to the city corporation, its septage waste collection system has got a place in the 75 success transformation stories included in the ‘Digital India’. Only two projects from Kerala have come up on the list.
The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology published Quick Pass — the centralized digital pass issue system for septage collection, transportation, disposal and payment — under the ‘75 Digital Transformation Stories’. The second project from Kerala to be featured in the list is the Geographic Information System-based mapping of farmers engaged in animal husbandry activities.
According to the report, the e-governance project of the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation has been able to change the lives of hundreds of workers who collect and transport septage and save water sources from pollution. The septage waste, which was earlier illegally collected and dumped in public places, is now being collected directly under the official supervision of the corporation and disposed of scientifically without any hassle. As per the assessment of the ministry, the project has re-engineered the systems and functioning of the municipality and changed the attitudes and thinking of all, including the people’s representatives, officials, the public and service providers.
The report pointed out that there has been a significant change in the time frame of delivering the service to the public. The service is now available in a matter of hours through the ‘Smart Trivandrum’ mobile app. The number of the vehicle coming to pick up the septage, driver’s information and arrival time are all available in the app. The report also said that complaints received through the call centre or online are being addressed quickly.
The corporation started this innovative project on April 18, 2019, when V K Prasanth was the Mayor. So far, 28,289 trips have been made to collect the septage Thirty vehicles are running for this purpose alone. The septage collected from across the city is taken to the sewerage treatment plant (STP) at Muttathara. Each truck runs at least 3-4 trips daily. A call centre is functioning from 7am to 7pm on all days to coordinate the activities and help out those who are not familiar with online booking through https://smarttvm.tmc.lsgkerala.gov.in. Contact: 9496434488 or 0471 2377701.
Project status
So far, over 12 crore litres of septage have been collected and scientifically processed. The corporation collected J9.83 crore through this project, of which J2.3 crore is the service charge of the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation. Tanker lorries are paid 18 per cent after GST and the money is transferred only through a bank account. In addition to the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation, the project has been extended to 11 nearby panchayats.