Vehicle fleet for green garbage, C&D waste collection lying unused in Bhubaneswar
BHUBANESWAR: In yet another setback to Capital’s waste management efforts, heavy vehicles procured for lifting green garbage and construction and demolition (C&D) waste from different parts of the city are lying unused owing to multiple reasons including lack of ancillary machines and scarcity of skilled drivers.
The civic body, a few months back, had purchased 12 heavy vehicles, four large trucks and as many small ones for lifting of green garbage, and another four large trucks for lifting of C&D waste in the city.
Sources, however, said delay in procurement of shredders and finalisation of an agency to run the service rendered the fleet ineffective.
Additionally, shortage of skilled drivers to run the fleet further compounds the challenges for the civic body. With the model code of conduct in place for elections, sources said, roping in a new agency through fresh tender may get delayed further, causing the vehicles procured with crores of investment, to rot in the open.
Admitting that the vehicles are lying unused, an official from the sanitation wing of the Corporation said it was primarily due to unavailability of shredding machines.
“We required two shredding machines for the green garbage fleet. However, with one shredder already being procured, the service is expected to resume soon,” he said adding, steps will also be taken to run the trucks for collection of C&D waste. Skilled drivers will be engaged for this purpose soon, he said.
BMC sources informed once the fleet is made operational, the service will be integrated to Safa Application, allowing citizens to book the vehicles for lifting of green garbage as well as C&D waste from their premises and locality.