Chief Minister Rekha Gupta on Thursday launched a door-to-door waste collection and secondary transportation project in west Delhi, flagging off 917 garbage collection vehicles.
The project will cover around 4.5 lakh households in 25 wards of west Delhi. Under the first phase of the project, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) will start work in six wards and the remaining 19 wards will be covered by August, the Delhi Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) said in a statement.
The fleet of waste collection vehicles includes 225 e-rickshaws for easy access to narrow lanes, 550 mini tippers, 52 compactors, 41 hook loaders, 28 mini trucks, 10 dumpers, six bin washers, 123 Fixed Compacter Transfer Station (FCTS) bins and 1.1 CBM bins for biomedical waste with a capacity of 1,300 litres.
The entire process of garbage collection will be digitally monitored through a GPS-enabled central control room, the eSBM app, CCTV surveillance and a dedicated helpline, the statement said. Under the project, traditional dhalaos are being replaced with modern, clean and odor-free Fixed Compaction Transfer Stations, it said. Gupta also interacted with the sanitation workers and shared a meal with them, appreciating their dedicated service and acknowledging their vital contribution to building a clean and beautiful Delhi.
Delhi Urban Development minister Ashish Sood, Environment minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa, Delhi Mayor Pravesh Wahi and top MCD officers were present on the occasion. Sood said the project would ensure timely door-to-door waste collection, technology-driven monitoring and an improved grievance redressal mechanism. Sirsa said Delhi government has ensured that household waste will now be collected twice a day, once in the morning and again in the evening, instead of only once.
He also said that work to eliminate the city’s garbage mountains at three landfill sites is also progressing at an unprecedented pace. Over 70 acres out of 200 acres of landfill sites have already been cleared of legacy waste.