Mayor Premananda Shetty said on Thursday that 68% of the solid waste generated in the city is now being segregated at source even as the Opposition Congress said that garbage collection has not yet been streamlined.
Speaking at a monthly meeting of the council here, held after three months due to COVID-19, the Mayor said that more and more people are now resorting to segregating waste at source. Segregation will pick up further in the coming days.
Congress councillor Praveenchandra Alva said that Antony Waste Handling Cell Ltd., which is collecting and transporting solid waste for the civic body, is not collecting waste daily in some wards.
“Many councillors are getting a number of complaints from people against the company workers not lifting waste daily from their doorsteps. We (councillors) have been forced to act as supervisors of the company while extending co-ordination,” Mr. Alva said.
In some wards, he said, garbage is being collected once in four days. Even if people segregated waste, the company workers mixed it during transportation, Mr. Alva said.
He said that the company is not picking up dry waste on Fridays. Hence, many people have been forced to leave dry waste by the roadside.
Opposition Leader A.C. Vinayraj wanted to know whether the company has equipped all its vehicles with GPS equipment, as it is mandatory.
Corporation Commissioner Akshy Sridhar said that of the 21 compactors supposed to be pressed into service, the company has put 17 of them into use. And, five of its 82 tippers are under maintenance. Additionally, the company has pressed into service nine tippers of which four are on standby. Three vehicles are collecting dry waste during the night. About 10 vehicles are collecting both wet and dry waste daily.
The Commissioner said that as the seven-year contract of the company with the corporation will expire in January 2022, the civic body is now preparing a detailed project report (DPR) on solid waste management to be adopted from next year.
