Many pourakarmikas in Mandya town play dual roles every day. First, they will collect solid waste from 35 wards and later, turn drivers to transport the garbage to the dumping yard. The reason being shortage of drivers in the City Municipal Council (CMC).
The Mandya CMC, which collects at least eight to nine tonnes of garbage/solid waste every day, has just two regular drivers.
It owns just 16 vehicles to collect and transport solid waste from the town. Of them, 10 are three-wheelers. The number of permanent pourakarmikas is 83, while those on contract is 185. According to the 2011 census, there are 32,986 houses in all the CMC limits in the town.
In spite of shortage of infrastructure facilities in the civic authority, Mandya town ranked the fifth cleanest city in Karnataka, and 148th in the country in Swachh Survekshan-2017.
The Quality Council of India (QCI) representatives visited the town a few months ago to get first-hand information about health, environment, solid waste management, and other issues. There was hopes that the town would emerge among the top 50 cleanest cities in the country. However, dreams were dashed owing to lack of infrastructure, a senior member of CMC said.
“We have only two permanent drivers currently. We will improve the solid waste management in the town soon,” CMC Commissioner T.N. Narasimha Murthy told The Hindu recently. He said the civic authority aims to bag a rank among the top 50 towns in the next survey.
The CMC recently procured a machine to remove silt from manholes, an automatic spraying machine [for fogging and other purposes], and a front-end loader with backhoe (earthmover) for the purpose. Nine auto-tippers, a refuse compactor, two tippers, and two tractors will be procured under the 14th Financial Commission grant. Seventy garbage bins will be placed in different parts in the town, he said.
The civic authority will study the models of Indore, Bhopal, Mysuru, Surat, Tiruchi, Navi Mumbai and other clean towns to implement them in Mandya, Mr. Murthy said. In order to bring discipline among citizens and shopkeepers, the CMC would penalise those who dump solid waste on pavements and public places. Such acts are punishable under certain provisions of the Municipal Solid Waste (Management and Handling) Rules 2,000, he said.
