Bin-free concept facing teething troubles

Tirupati: It is intriguing that the ‘bin-free concept’ taken up by the Municipal Corporation of Tirupati (MCT) saw the bins disappear but not the garbage.

Garbage in heaps were seen in many streets and even busy roads in the places from where the bins were taken away by the Corporation’s Health Department as a part of its efforts to make the pilgrim city ‘bin-free’ but the residents did not stop discarding the waste in the open. 

The hungry stray cattle and dogs in search of food rummaging the garbage strewing the waste marring cleanliness. The corporation after introducing ‘door-to-door collection’ of waste in the city covering all the 50 divisions decided to withdraw the bins numbering about 550 in the pilgrim city.

Accordingly, 160 bins were removed so far from various localities while the remaining will be taken up soon.  But, in some places where the bins were withdrawn, the residents and shopkeepers instead of handing over the garbage to the health worker engaged by the Corporation for door-to-door collection of waste, dumping them in the open. 

health official said the 50 divisions in the corporation were divided into 371 ‘micro pockets’ for implementing the ‘door-to-door collection’ of waste in a fool-proof manner and two health workers were deployed for each micro pocket for collection of waste.

Besides, the Corporation took 125 more outsourcing health workers into service, taking their total strength to 800 for collection of waste in the city. The corporation kept 50-60 workers additionally to overcome any shortage of workers due to absent for valid reasons, to ensure the door-to-door collection waste go on daily without any gap, he explained.

He, however, admitted that in some areas there are many residents still not handing over the household garbage to the health workers coming to their houses for collection of waste and dumping it in the open on road side. 

Efforts are on to create awareness to ensure all the residents’ hand over the garbage to the health worker only. Sanitary supervisor Govardhan said that arrangements are in place in every micro pocket for transportation of waste collected daily from the residences.

The health worker after collecting the garbage takes them to the transit point where the waste will be segregated into wet and dry before transportation. Four Compactors were pressed into service for the transportation of the wet waste from transit points to Tukivakam near the city were municipal compost yard is located while the dry waste will be transported by tractors to Ramapuram dumping yard, 8 km from the city. 

In the areas where bins were removed, the Health Department would pursue the residents, vendors and shopkeepers to hand over the waste to health workers coming daily.

The corporation introduced real time monitoring system covering all the houses in the city to ensure 100 percent door-to-door collection, he said. “There may be hitches here and there in the daily collection of waste that are only teething troubles and will be sorted out soon,” Govardhan observed.