The Thrikkakara Municipality will set up ten artificial intelligence-enabled cameras across the municipal area to detect dumping of waste in the areas identified as locations where people throw waste frequently.
The setting up of the cameras will be inaugurated by District Collector Jaffar Malik on Thursday, said Rashid Ullampally, councillor and Health Standing Committee chairman.
The cameras are being set up at an expense of about ₹30 lakh and they can be relocated easily depending on requirements. They will run on solar energy. A control room is being opened in the municipal office to monitor the situation as waste dumping has become a major problem in the municipality. The company contracted for the work of establishing the cameras will look after the cameras over the next three years.
Some of the areas that had been identified as being frequented by those dumping waste included Kunnumpuram on the Civil Lane Road, areas near Infopark and the areas opposite the Cochin Special Economic Zone. The effort of the municipal authorities is to identify those dumping waste even as the municipality has a common waste disposal facility centre close to the municipal office in Kakkanad.
The AI-enabled cameras will be able to record the details of the vehicles used for waste dumping automatically and identify them later.
The municipality has a burgeoning population and major business centres like the Infopark, Cochin Special Economic Zone and offices of the district headquarters.
Around 20 to 24 tonnes of waste is collected from different areas of the municipality on a daily basis. While the biodegradable waste is sent to the common treatment plant at Brahmapuram, plastic and other materials are collected by a contracted company engaged in treating or recycling these materials, said Mr. Ullampally.
The municipal budget for 2022-23 has set aside ₹20 crore for a waste treatment plant for which two acres are being acquired with the permission of the State government. The waste treatment plant is expected to be a model in which there would also be quarters for those manning the facility.
