A Spanish environmental management company, Urbaser-Sumeet, will take charge of waste management in seven zones in Chennai from October. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K Palaniswami recently inaugurated this new solid waste management of the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC). While the Spanish firm has been contracted for eight years and will take over collection and transportation of waste including doorstep collection, street sweeping and handling of domestic and hazardous waste for a period of eight years, it will not be paid based on the quantity of waste collected.
The municipal corporation has, instead, 36 key performance indicators that will be audited by an independent engineer before the payments are made. The indicators include regular sweeping of streets, clearing garbage on time, 100 per cent door-to-door collection and creating awareness on segregation. Citizens will also be able to register complaints through a 24X7 toll-free number. The project will cover Teynampet, Kodambakkam, Valasaravakkam, Alandur, Adyar, Perungudi and Sholinganallur zones. According to an official statement, 100% source segregation is expected to be achieved in all these zones in a year. “We will start work in zone 13 (Adyar) from Thursday and the rest of the zones will be covered before December. It is a phased initiation,” said Mahmood Sait, CEO of Urbaser-Sumeet.
Battery-operated vehicles will be used for door to door collection of segregated and non-segregated garbage from households and market areas and horticultural waste from public places. Palaniswami flagged off the company’s compactors, mechanical sweepers and e-rickshaws in the presence of municipal administration minister S P Velumani, at the virtual ceremony.
According to the release, about 125 compactors, 38 mechanical sweepers, 3,000 e-rickshaws and 11,000 compactor trash cans, would be used and the company would employ 10,844 people to carry out the cleaning work. Urbaser SA and Sumeet Facilities Limited’s work would cover the activities in 16,621 streets in 92 wards falling under seven zones with a population of about 37 lakh people. The company carries out cleaning work in Spain, France, Italy, England, Oman, Bahrain, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Peru and in Delhi.
According to Sait, the firm, as a service provider, will be looking at creating awareness of segregating waste among the public. The penalty is likely to be levied on those who fail to segregate waste. “Our battery-operated-vehicles (for collection of waste) come with six bins built for wet, dry and domestic hazardous waste. The drivers will tell residents how they need to segregate the waste. A 24×7 call centre will also be set up at Alandur, where school students will be encouraged to observe how waste is handled and monitored,” Sait said.
According to the release, about 125 compactors, 38 mechanical sweepers, 3,000 e-rickshaws and 11,000 compactor trash cans, would be used and the company would employ 10,844 people to carry out the cleaning work. Urbaser SA and Sumeet Facilities Limited’s work would cover the activities in 16,621 streets in 92 wards falling under seven zones with a population of about 37 lakh people. The company carries out cleaning work in Spain, France, Italy, England, Oman, Bahrain, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Peru and in Delhi.
