The Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation’s (BMC) proposal to introduce solar powered rickshaw for garbage collection will be implemented in a month, thus mechanising garbage collection in the wards.
BMC officials had been contemplating ways to improvise sanitary condition in the wards for some time. The rear part of the solar rickshaw, which was showcased in BMC in December last year, will be converted into a garbage bin and powered by hydraulics to enable dumping of the garbage.
“Recently, we have seen a drop in the number of sanitation workers in the city. The mechanised garbage pick up vehicle will help tackle the manpower problem that we might face in future,” said BMC mayor AN Jena.
A senior BMC official explained that with increasing job opportunities in other fields, the young generation is not inclined towards sanitation related jobs. The mechanised vehicles will be introduced in one of the wards under BMC on an experimental basis.
Later, it will be introduced in the rest 19 wards that come under BMC. One vehicle costs Rs 1.40 lakh without the hydraulic system. The private firm is yet to give the final cost of the vehicle after the hydraulics functioning is added. After all the wards under BMC are covered, it will be considered for wards where sanitation is being managed by private firms.